Adventure Time with Finn and Phoebe!
by Akittenwithgloves
Summary: What if things had gone better for Finn and Flame princess? what if Finn had invited her to live with them? what if our(my) favorite ship had not been shot down the way it was? or what if FP lived in the tree house and joined the adventures Finn and Jake got in. Bad summary i know. Cover art made by chubbly.
1. A long night

Finn was tucked in his bed trying to get some sleep... or he would be if he could clear his mind of the Flame princess and what happened later that night...

 **FLASHBACK**

 _"You are a water elemental" FP said as Finn slowly got back up wiping the tears off his face._

"W-what?" _Finn looked at her in confusion as she continued with confidence as if she had figured out a great_ _mystery._

 _"You are my opposite, you create water!" FP pointed at her eyes to emphasise her point "you cry and cry all the time!"_

 _"W-wait t-thats not-" Finn tried to interject but FP continued_ _"it is! that's your power!" at this point she even looked amazed that something like that could happen but finn had to stop her before she got the wrong idea about him._

 _"No no no no no no" he waved his arms trying to stop whatever she had decided was true but she pressed on before he could elaborate "Finn we cant be together, we are only going to hurt each other" FP looked hurt and Finn's heart clenched at the sight "No, i can take it!" he stated boldly as she looked back up at him "I-i mean... cant we try?" FP looked into his eyes, the sheer determination and care they showed stopped any retort she could come up with._

 _"You would defy nature for me?" She took a step closer to him her arms slightly raised "Um... yeah... whatevs" Finn slowly put his arms around her as she did the same._

 _Then if only for a moment everything stopped, the fires and the city disappeared leaving only them, only them sharing a hug they didn't know they needed._

 _Finn was no stranger to hugs, he and Jake had moments where they needed reassurance, but this was the first time he felt something like this. it was warm, very warm, but it was also kind and loving as if FP thought he would break if she was too rough with him, as their hold got stronger reality started to return and with it came a sizzling sound, the smell of something burning and terrible pain across his arms and body._

 _Letting_ _go of each other Finn stepped back and took a deep breath as he tried to stop screams of pain to escape from his mouth. FP looked regretful most likely blaming herself for hurting him but before he could say anything she simply looked at him straight in the eye and said "Goodbye finn"._

 **FLASHBACK END**

The next morning Finn woke up earlier than normal, even more considering how late it was at the time he went to sleep, but he had no time to waste. Quickly jumping out of bed and putting on a blue t-shirt and blue shorts he grabbed a premade adventure bag as he liked to call them, jumping down the stairs even Jake seemed surprised at the energy of his bro.

"Hey man, something happened?" Said Jake taking another sip of coffee while he prepared some bacon pancakes for breakfast.

"U-uh no but... i cant wait to go out and adventure you know?" Finn said as he tried to not look desperate to get out the house.

"He he he i bet it has something to do with that fire lady you meet yesterday" Jake looked even more smug as Finn turn completely red.

"W-what? how did you know!?" He asked but Jake simply laughed as he placed to plates filled with pancakes on the table.

"You're my bro Finn, did you think i wouldn't notice your "i love you" eyes you were giving the Flame princess?" Said Jake before he shoved a forkful of pancake in his mouth, Finn sighed and took a seat next to Jake.

"Did i... really look like that?" Jake made some affirmation noises while he chewed his food.

"Yea man, but don't worry!" He winked at Finn "I dont think she minded at all!" Finn tried to look angry at Jake but couldn't hide the lovestruck smile that came to his face after hearing that.

"I have to find her jake, i know it may be too soon to tell but i really think she is the one for me..." Beads of sweat ran down Finn's forehead as he felt a little hotter from all the embarrassment of saying such things.

Jake finished his pancakes, eating even the crumbs left in the plate "Dont worry, you don't have to butter me up" He gave Finn a thumbs up and a wide grin "We'll go find your lady, man!"

Finn immediately pulled Jake into a bone crushing hug "Thank you! thank you so much Jake! lets go right now!" He carried Jake halfway through the room before Jake stopped him.

"No way man! we are not going anywhere before you finish your breakfast!" Jake grew in size and placed Finn back into his seat "Remember what happened the last time you went adventuring with an empty stomach because you were too excited?"

Finn sighed and picked up his fork as he remembered how they had to cut a dungeon short because he collapsed in the middle of a fight but even then he refused to let this setback affect his mood. He and jake would go searching for FP and he would make things right this time... and who knows, maybe she would like to go adventuring with them!.

AN: So this is an idea i had where things go better for Finn and Flame princess as a couple, not sure how i'm going to make this work so... don't get your hopes up, its the first story i have ever published so try not to hate it to much.

More soon!


	2. New home

It was a sunny day, birds were singing and flowers were blooming. No one would believe everything almost burned to the ground unless they lived in the Goblin Kingdom, there were no fires anymore but the scars were still there and sadly for Finn and Jake this were bad news.

Jake walked through the forest around the Kingdom with ease in his enlarged state while Finn looked through a pair of binoculars he carried in his backpack, keeping his eyes sharp for any traces of fire he could see. They started early in the morning and it had been a few hours since then but so far they had no clue were FP could have gone.

"Find something yet?" Jake asked Finn after a searching for a while.

"Not yet... where could she have gone?" Finn said out loud more to himself rather than asking Jake, even if he couldn't see his bro's face Jake could tell he was getting discouraged. Jake's face moved from the front to his back were it stopped in a lump of his skin that resembled his normal body "Don't worry finn, she couldn't have gone far! we will find her before you know it!"

Finn dropped the binoculars and took a seat on Jake's back "I hope so, we haven't seen a single trace and the goblin folk were too busy trying to save their Kingdom to see where she went after she escaped" Finn hugged his knees to his chest and sighed "What if she went back to the Fire Kingdom Jake? i could never see her again..."

Jake frowned and pulled Finn back up to his feet "Come on man you givin up already? she would never go back to that lamp, come on lets keep searching!" Finn quickly shaked his head side to side and slapped his cheeks "You're right! i cant give up yet, let's go Jake!"

"That's the spirit bro!" Jake moved his face back to the front an took off in a sprint towards the nearby mountains.

 **BREAK**

They stopped next to a river for a quick break after their long search.

"Just give me a sec, need to catch my breath" Jake huffed and puffed as he laid down on the grass.

While Jake rested Finn took a seat at the edge of the river, taking off his shoes and socks to not get them wet. The water was cristal clear and he could see his reflection perfectly and his mind drifted to FP the way she shined in the starry night sky, how good had her warmth felt against the cool night breeze. with a smile he closed his eyes as to not lose the image he had of her on his mind.

"Ouch!" finn was dragged out of his daydream when his toes kicked something in the water, getting up to take a better look his eyes widened when what appeared was "Burnt wood?" he said out loud as his eyes followed the river upstream as more and more bits and pieces of wood came floating.

Putting his socks and shoes back on he quickly ran towards Jake and hoisted him on his shoulders as he ran following the river all the way up "Woa! Finn? did you see something?" Jake exclaimed as he hold on to dear life as finn picked up more speed "I think I did but we have to make sure!"

And slowly but surely the sound of explosions got louder and louder.

 **BREAK**

It had been a rough night, sleeping in the woods was not comfortable but the real problem was the events that happened that night.

No matter how much she tried she couldn't get the image of that boy out of her mind...

"Finn..." Her core acked at the memory of him and her flames grew with the emotion it carried. Quickly calming herself, she had to take her mind off things and what better way to to do than to have some target practice.

Her magic attacks could use some work, after all it was a miracle that she did as good as she did last night given all experience she had was from trying to break out of her glass cell... the cell she spend 14 years inside of, years of crying and begging to be left out.

The memories and the pain always felt so real, as if she was still trapped inside and this was all in her imagination as if to free her from the punishment her father had placed on her.

Just like that her mood plummeted and her flames started growing with intensity as the grass she was standing on turned black, letting out a primal roar she started throwing fireballs all around her not caring in the slightest about who may be harmed in the process, but as soon as it came it left leaving nothing more than an empty hole in her chest.

Falling to her knees she let out a bitter laugh, even now her father was right she was a monster. What once was a peaceful looking meadow near the river now looked like a warzone as the fire slowly moved towards the rest of the forest. Tears slowly fell to the ground as she curled up into a ball, maybe she should go back and just accept her-

"Princess! are you okay?" Finn jumped out from the burning forest with Jake on his shoulders.

FP jumped to her feet at the sudden arrival ready for a fight until she realised who it was, time seemed to stop as she and finn looked at eachother. The fireballs in her hands disappeared and her flames dimmed immediately, it was him...

"Why are you back...?" what was meant to be intimidating came out as little more than a whisper.

Finn seemed to be in the same position as he struggled to get the words out "I just needed to- i mean! not needed but more like... um" his cheeks went red with embarrassment trying to find the right words to explain his feelings until Jake whispered in his ear.

"Relax bro, take a deep breath and let your feelings do the talking" Finn whispered thanks back as Jake jumped off his back and gave him a thumbs up.

Doing as he was told Finn took a deep breath and slowly exhaled putting his previous nervousness at the back of his mind he steeled himself and began speaking...

"Flame princess i'm here because i needed to tell you how i really feel, last night things happened too fast for both of us and i thought that we could use this time to set things straight" Finn stopped for a moment to see if he was doing something wrong but FP simply looked at him with a curious expression on her face, taking another deep breath he started again.

"I-i like you princess and I never meant to hurt you, I know you think you are evil but I don't think that is quite right, you're just passionate about stuff and whoever your parents might be have nothing to do about how you behave. I know im probably not making things easier for you right now but i told you before didnt I? I will defy nature for you princess, I swear on my honor as an adventurer and a hero that I will not betray you... s-so if you want, we can get to know eachother better and who knows, maybe s-see what happens?" he was sweating bullets near the end thanks to the fact FP had not said a word since he began talking.

FP looked at Finn in disbelief, after everything she had done he was still willing to be with her? not only that but he wanted her not the dangerous evil princess to follow in his footsteps, not the dangerous elemental with an unstable core to have her locked up, Finn wanted none of those things. He wanted Phoebe, the elemental girl that had been imprisoned since she was a child for something she had no control over, the same girl he could not even touch without risking severe injury if he was too close for too long.

A smile graced her lips and her cheeks turned red as she slowly walked closer to Finn until they were standing face to face, she fiddled with her hands before speaking.

"I... would really like that, Finn" She smiled at him as his face slowly turned from nervousness to relief and a goofy smile appeared on his face.

"R-really?" Finn asked not believing what he had just heard.

She giggled at his reaction before replying "Yea, really really"

Finn said nothing but slowly took her hand into his intertwining their fingers, they stared into eachothers eyes with contented smiles until the burning became a little to strong for Finn. Slowly letting go of her hand a voice snapped them out of their trance.

"Um sorry to interrupt you guys but its getting kinda late you know?" Jake timidly said not liking having to interrupt the moment his bro had with his lady.

Finn looked to the sunset last minutes with the sky colored a beautiful shade of red, yellow and orange. Looking back to FP he had the exact same thought.

"it looks really pretty isn't it?" FP said while looking up at the sky.

"Yeah... beautiful" Finn said while looking directly at her while her cheeks turned reder and tried hard to keep her core still.

Seeing they were getting side tracked again Jake cleared his throat to get the attention of the two lovers.

"Oh, right. I guess I lost track of time" Finn took a step back towards his brother "Will I see you again tomorrow?".

"Of course Finn, I will be... here I guess" FP looked dejected as she looked around the makeshift house she had made with a few pieces of wood was now destroyed thanks to her earlier outburst.

"Why don't you come with us?" Finn's mouth acted faster than his brain as he proposed his wild idea.

"What?!" both jake and FP exclaimed in surprise.

"I-i mean to our tree house, its pretty big and i'm sure that we cou-" A yellow giant hand covered his mouth before he finished.

"Just a moment princess" Jake said before he quickly carried Finn behind a few trees.

"What were you thinking man? you cant just invite her to our house there are steps you need to follow!" Jake chastised finn as he set him on the ground.

"Don't be like that Fake! its obvious she doesn't have anywhere else to go and besides we got plenty of space back at the tree house" Finn stood his ground in the discussion.

"Finn i know she means a lot to you but we cant take her in! she's made of fire and in case you haven't noticed we live in a TREE!" Jake replied having a feeling he would not get anywhere with Finn.

"Bro, please... she doesn't have anyone else to rely on right now and besides I promised her, remember?" Finn pleaded not wanting to get into a fight with his brother over this.

Jake looked sternly at Finn but his gaze slowly softened, compared to how Finn was before he went princess hunting Jake very much prefered when his bro acted like this. The determined fire in his eyes let him know that even if he refused Finn would not leave before making sure the Flame princess had a place to stay the night.

"Fine... BUT you will have to put some work to make the house resistant to-" Finn cut whatever jake had to say as he hugged his bro as hard as he could.

"Thank you Jake! i'll take care of everything don't you worry!" Letting go of Jake, Finn ran back to see FP standing awkwardly waiting for them.

"As i was saying, you can come and stay with us... if you want to" Finn smiled brightly at her as she looked at him in disbelief.

"Really? you don't mind..?" FP disliked the fact that she was receiving so much and had nothing to give back in return but right now she had not much else to give other than her company which she hoped Finn liked as much as she liked his.

"Of course! you'll love it, there are forest and pretty flowers around and there's also lots of cool dungeons that we can go exploring together!" Finn seemed to be even more excited about this than her and she could help but to laugh at his enthusiasm.

"Okay, okay! you will have to show me around once we get there then" She smiled brightly at finn which he returned in full as a slightly grumpy jake got out of the forest.

"Well then you two we better get going its a long trip and i'm getting tired already" Jake said as he got in position and grew in size.

"Let's go princess flame!" Finn jumped on jake's back and then he extended his hand to help FP climb up.

FP giggled at his excitement before taking his hand, she would never had expected this day to end the way it did. But she couldn't be happier it did, except for one little thing...

"Finn you don't have to keep being so formal, you can call me by my name... Phoebe"

AN: so there it is, not much else to say. chapter 3 tomorow probably... damn im tired.


	3. Meeting people

The ride back to the tree house was mostly silent with Finn telling FP about his adventures while Jake focused on the path ahead, Finn sat cross legged in a small bed of rocks that they set up so that FP wouldn't burn Jake's back too badly.

"...And then I took the cyclops head back home and used it's magic tears to help everyone that got hurt!" Finn finished another story of his adventures as FP attentively listen to him.

"Wow, being an adventurer sounds really fun!" FP eyes sparkled with excitement as she listened to all the crazy adventures Finn and Jake got in.

"You could join us if you wanted, the more the better!" Finn smiled brightly at FP but hesitated when she looked unsure about something.

"It is really okay? I wouldn't want to get in the way..." She said not wanting to just force herself into the life of the hero.

"Don't worry about it Phoebe, i don't mind and i'm sure jake doesn't either. right bro?" finn said a little louder so that jake could hear him over the wind.

Moving his face onto a lump on his back jake replied "Yes don't worry about a thing princess, besides im sure Finn would just loooove to have you around he he he" The magic dog then quickly moved his face back to the front.

"W-wha? dude! not cool!" Finn turned red at his brother's teasing while FP giggled at the duo's banter.

Shortly afterwards they finally left the forest and reached the grasslands with the three house on the horizon, while she had been there before Phoebe didn't really took in the beauty of the place until now. The grass moved softly in the cold night breeze that also made her flames dim slightly, the clear sky with hundreds of beautiful shiny stars was something she never thought she would see, thanks to the volcanic activity of the fire lands the skys were always dark and filled with smoke.

Finn seemed to have similar thoughts as he looked up to the sky admiring the view and phoebe couldn't help but to stare at him. His bear hat was a little loose which let some of his shiny blond hair show, his blue t-shirt hugged his body nicely which was very well toned no doubt thank to years of adventuring and dungeon crawling. He turned to look at her and caught her staring, her cheeks burned with embarrassment as she quickly averted her eyes.

"Hm? do i have something on my face?" Finn cluelessly touched his face searching for anything weird, suddenly an idea quickly popped into her head.

"Oh yea, you do have something, let me see..." She patted the rocks and Finn moved closer.

"Where? what is-" Finn couldn't finish is sentence before he felt a slight sting on his cheek, his eyes widened as he turned to look at Phoebe with a shocked expression.

"There, think of it as a thanks... f-for all that you have done for me" FP averted her eyes not fully believing she had actually done that.

Finn rubbed the spot on his cheek as a goofy smile appeared on his face, neither of them moved away from each other for the rest of the trip until Jake finally reached the house.

 **BREAK**

"BMO we are home!" Jake said as he climbed up to the 2nd floor.

"BMO? who is that?" FP asked Finn as he closed the door behind them.

"Oh he's our friend, he should be somewhere around her-"he didn't finish his sentence before BMO jumped down from wherever he was and chopped Finn on the head.

"BMO chop! hey Finn what took you guys so..." BMO stopped when he looked at the fire elemental in their house.

"Wah! she's back for revenge!" BMO quickly climbed inside Finn's backpack leaving only a side of his screen to look at the intruder.

FP flinched at the little robot words but before things got worse finn stepped in.

"No BMO! she's not here for revenge, she's our friend see?" Finn pulled BMO out of his backpack and walked closer to FP but sadly this only seemed to stress the robot more.

"N-no, please dont hurt me" BMO attempted to cover his face as if to hide from the fire elemental, FP sighed gave the robot a patient smile and spoke softly.

"I'm really sorry about what i did before BMO and i promise i'm not going to hurt any of you, let's start from the beginning okay?" FP extended her hand towards the robot who reluctantly extended his.

"Okay... um hi, my name is BMO" He held one of the princesses fingers with his tiny hand.

"Hi BMO my name is Phoebe, its nice to meet you" FP and Finn smiled as the robot visibly relaxed.

"See? what did I tell you BMO" Finn placed the robot back on the ground as he walked over to the stairs.

"Anyway, let me show you where you can stay Phoebe" Finn climbed the ladder, only to find FP waiting for him at the top.

"Why climb when you can fly?" She giggled at his surprised face before he reached the top and started his tour.

"Hahaha you're so cool princess!" FP blushed at the praise and followed finn closely.

"So this is our kitchen and living room, up the stairs is our room and you already saw the treasure pit" Finn explained to FP as she looked and walked around, not staying in one place so that the wooden floor wouldn't catch fire.

"Hmm its pretty big... but where am I going to stay?" She questioned finn who simply said "Follow me" as he climbed down another ladder oposite to the one they just climbed.

They reached what looked like a garage that was filled to the brim with electronic and mechanical gadgets as well as many pieces of metal scattered around.

"I-im sorry its so messy, i didn't think we would ever need to use this room for guests... give me a moment" Finn quickly jumped in and started cleaning the middle of the room letting plenty of space for someone to sleep in.

"Almost done, i'll be right back!" Finn climbed back up and left Phoebe behind.

She walked around wondering how had Finn and Jake found so many treasures, until one of the gadgets started moving from under a pile.

"Creator? is that you creator?" The slightly bigger robot seemed to be stuck under a few pieces of scrap metal, which FP easily removed.

"Umm, hi?" She asked unsure of who the machine was looking for.

"Oh! it's you, the fire lady!" The robot replied excitedly, his pincer like arm moving up and down excitedly.

"Uh, no offence but... do I know you?" FP asked a little confused about how the robot knew about her.

"It me fire lady, Neptr! I helped the creator stop you from burning down the Goblin Kingdom" FP eyes widened as she remember how the robot Finn was in looked like.

"Oh... yes I remember you, im glad you weren't hurt" She said sincerely thankful that despite everything she did before no one got seriously hurt.

Before neptr could reply a bunch of animal pelts and covers fell down the hole where the stairs were, followed by Finn who promptly fell on top of them.

"Sorry i took so long FP" He said as he got back up and carried all the covers to the middle of the room.

"It's fine finn, I was just talking with your other robot" FP said as she pointed to Neptr who looked even more excited now that Finn was in the room.

Neptr followed finn closely as he tidied up the makeshift bed.

"Creator, creator! did you came back for me creator?" The robot drifted in circles until finn picked him up.

"Not now Neptr i have to prepare FP's bed, we can play tomorrow" Finn placed the robot away from the bed before he searched for something in the piles of mechanical trash.

"Oh, is the fire lady going to live with us? yay! im so happy for you creator" Both Finn and FP tried to not look to embarrassed at the robot's words.

"T-thanks Neptr, now where did i leave the... aha!" Finn said as he pulled a small tube of aluminum and started to set a layer that covered the bed he made.

Slowly but surely the bed was completely covered in aluminum as finn made sure he had covered every inch of it.

"Here you go FP, one bed ready to go!" Finn exclaimed as he excitedly pointed at the medium sized bed that was completely covered in aluminum.

Phoebe walked over and patted the bed surprised at how soft it felt despite its odd covering and the fact it was on the floor, laying down on it she moved around until she found a confortable spot and let out a satisfied sigh. Compared to sleeping in the forest this was a hundred times better and she was grateful for the company too.

"Thank you Finn,for everything." FP said sincerely, she tried to get up except she didn't realise just how tired she was until she laid down on the bed.

"Don't worry FP we can talk tomorrow, come on neptr time for bed" Finn picked up Neptr and started to climb up the ladder, but before he reached the top he stopped and turned to look at the princess.

"Goodnight Phoebe" he said softly not wanting to disturb the sleepy princess, looking at her sleeping figure one last time before climbing all the way to the top and getting ready for bed.

FP princess barely heard Finn as her consciousness started to fade, before closing her eyes completely and a letting a contented smile set on her lips. She could have never expected her life to take a turn like this, but being honest she didn't have much hopes for her future at all being trapped in her glass prison for so long... except now things were different, someone wanted her and belived she could change. She would not let Finn or any of her new friends down, that much she promised.

And who knows? maybe she would be a better adventurer than she could ever hope to be as a princess.

AN:Actual adventuring next chapters, not sure how i feel about this one... might make some changes later.

AN2:Don't fix what's not broken, dear past me.


	4. An average day

Phoebe woke up from her sleep with a smile on her face, sitting down on her bed she stretched as the events came back to her. Finn looking for her, coming with him back to the tree house and finally getting her own room.

Shaking the last remnants of sleep off her body she got up and looked around the room, it was pretty much unchanged since she went to sleep except a delicious smell came from the 2nd floor which made her stomach grumble, slowly climbing up the ladder she poked her head outside to see Finn, Jake and BMO setting up the table. Finn smiled brightly when he saw her and waved her over.

"Good morning Phoebe! you came just in time, we are about to have breakfast" Jake and BMO waved at her while Finn spoke, FP slowly walked over to the trio and looked over Jake's shoulder as he cooked a bunch of bacon and eggs. Finn caught her attention as he pointed at one of the seats "Here, I saved a spot for you" the couch was now covered with aluminum paper, giving a metallic look that reassured her that it wouldn't catch fire if she sat on it.

FP took a seat on the place Finn prepared for her while she waited for Jake to finish cooking, looking over she realised that finn had purposely prepared her a seat that was right next to where he usually sat and while the act itself didn't make it very obvious the fact that his cheeks were burning red did.

Feeling a little playful she moved a little closer to him and said "If you wanted me to sit close by you could have just asked Finn" By now Finn turned completely red as he tried to find the right words to explain himself.

"N-no no no, its not that! I mean, I don't mind having you close but i didn't do it because of that!" BMO and Jake tried to muffle their laugh as the poor human looked like he wished to be anywhere else right now. FP placed her hand on top of his and smiled at him "I know silly, i was just joking." she quickly moved her hand back not wanting to hurt the boy.

"O-oh, I knew that hahaha" Finn tried to pretend he had not been completely fooled by her just as Jake placed a pan filled with scrambled eggs and another one with bacon.

"Alright everyone, dig in!" Jake exclaimed as he placed a good amount of egg and bacon on everyone's plate, FP looked a little confused as to why would they serve BMO too but decided not to question it.

FP poked at her food curiously as she looked at how everyone else ate, Jake shoved forkfuls of the stuff to his mouth and Finn seemed to be taking his time savoring his food after each bite while BMO simply stared at his plate. It was the first time she had a meal like this, most of the time she ate the best coal to be found in the fire kingdom so her flames brightened at the prospect of trying out something new.

As she took a small bite she resisted the urge to spit it out, the food was... slimy and very greasy, the taste of it overwhelmed her senses and she hurriedly swallowed unsure of how long could she keep calm. Finn seemed to catch on to her discomfort and turned to look at her "Hey are you okay? its not that bad is it?" FP quickly composed herself not wanting to eat more or look ungrateful she simply said "Oh no no no, its fine its just... i'm not that hungry" her lie would have worked if her stomach didn't choose that exact moment to growl and betray her words.

Finn seemed confused until his eyes widened in realisation, he snapped his fingers and jumped over the table "I'll be right back!" He said leaving behind a very confused trio.

Jake looked at FP with a raised eyebrow and she shrugged in return before the magic dog lost interest and continued eating. A few minutes passed before Finn came back carrying a bunch of things on his arms, he set down all the items on a clear spot on the table before asking "Are any of these okay?" FP looked over to the items on the table, there was a piece of firewood, a pile of coal and a smaller pile of tree leafs.

"I'm not sure but... you don't eat normal food do you?" Finn asked her while she popped one of the coals into her mouth "Not really... its the first time i had a meal like this, i'm sorry." FP apologised for causing trouble but Finn quickly reassured her "Don't worry about it, you don't have to force yourself if you don't like it" He grabbed her plate and place the food back in the pan.

Phoebe and finn shared a smile before they started eating again and prepared for the day.

 **BREAK**

"So... where are we going?" FP asked Finn and Jake after a while of walking through the forest, she had been excited when they left the house but her patience was runing thin a few hours later. Finn turned to look at her at the same time he unsheathed his family sword "We are going dungeon searching to get cool stuff for you!" he pointed at his sword as he continued "See this sword? its a demon blood sword, dad left it for us in a dungeon that he made for me and Jake" FP had to admit it was a pretty cool sword but didn't understand why did she need something like that.

"I can fight pretty well with my magic, why do I need a weapon?" She played with a fireball in her hands to prove her point but Finn simply shook his head "I'm not saying you are defenceless Phoebe but sometimes we have to be careful with colateral damage" He pointed at her fireball "You can use magic pretty well but in a fight things can get pretty tricky and if your not careful you could hurt someone" FP looked a little hurt at his words but knew finn was right, if she really wanted to change she needed more control over her actions instead of letting raw emotion control her.

"It takes a while sometimes but its worth it, we will find you a dungeon rig-" Finn couldn't finish his sentence before he tripped thanks to the skeleton of what looked like a knight, his armor was caked in rust and the bone Finn stepped on broke easily so it was easy to tell the body had been there for a long time.

Everything looked ancient except for his sword, a golden sword with runic marks on the blade that let out a powerful magic aura. Jake picked up both finn and the sword as he inspected the markings on the blade "Hmm yea, this is definitely enchanted" Gripping the handle tightly the blade was suddenly covered in flames.

FP and finn stared wide eyed at the sword as jake gave a few experimental swings, it sliced through the air with ease leaving behind a few embers that disappeared before they touched the ground. Finally satisfied he gave the sword to Finn before searching around the remains for anything else that they could take.

Finn looked back at FP and gave her a wide grin "What did i tell you? and its a fire enchantment too!" He expertly flipped the sword in the air grabbing it by the blunt side of the blade leaving the handle free so that FP could take it, Her flames burned brightly with excitement as the sword activated once she touched the handle. Her excitement keep growing as she received her first sword, now all they had to do was find a dungeon and-! "Uh phoebe? i'm glad you are happy but could you calm down please?" Finn said as he and Jake covered their faces from the heat wave that her body radiated all around her.

"Oh... i'm sorry" FP looked a little frustrated that her emotions had gotten the best of her again.

Before finn could reply another voice sounded like it was coming their way...

"ah... give her a present... when was the last time she gave me a present? what would she want? we never talk anyway..." The spider rambling was cut short when he came face to face with the trio, an awkward silence fell until the spider suddenly snapped his fingers and said "Foood! Barb has never had this much food, this will be the best present" before anyone could reply the spider suddenly turned around and shot several webs at the three adventurers, Finn and jake were pinned to a tree while the web that was aimed at FP burned to ashes the moment it touch her, the spider let out a roar as it prepared to charge.

FP looked back to see Finn struggling against the web trying to reach his sword while Jake attempted to stretch out of his bindings to no avail, finn looked up to her with a worried expression and screamed "Watch out!" Instinctively she moved to the side quickly summoning a fireball to the her left hand while she readied her sword with the other, the spider surprisingly sharp claw missed her head as she moved before placing itself between her and her friends.

"Get lost! you fire folk are no good but this two have to stay" The spider showed its sharp row of teeth in an attempt to intimidate the elemental into submission, FP growled with anger at the beast. The fireball in her hand got bigger as she prepared to throw before finn's voice echoed in her head...

 _sometimes we have to be careful with collateral damage..._

Letting the magic attack dissipate in the air she took a moment to look at her surroundings, Finn and Jake were stuck to a tree similar to the others around them and if her attack missed she could not only hurt both of them but also set fire to the entire forest. Taking a deep breath her shaky hold on the blade stopped as she placed both hands on the handle.

The spider's patience seemed to have reached his limit "Want to fight? fine! your not going to destroy my marriage!" Moving surprisingly fast for its size the spider aimed once more for her head with its claws, crouching FP doged the claws and attempted to stab the monster in the torso only managing to leave a black spot where the heat of the blade burned the beast before it used its many legs to jump back and away from the fire.

"Ah! that really hurt" The spider stopped for a moment to rub the spot she aimed for, seeing an opportunity she quickly propelled herself using her flames and delivered a kick to the jaw of the spider sending it flying on its back "OW!" It landed with a tud near Finn and Jake and before it could get back up she jumped on top of it using a hand to hold its head down and putting her flaming sword near its neck. Sensing the bloodlust radiating of her the spider quickly pleaded "No please! im sorry, just take your friends and go!" It closed its eyes hoping for painless death before the heat vanished.

Opening its eyes slowly the spider was surprised to see the fire elemental burning the web off her friends apparently having forgotten about him.

"Phoebe you were amazing!" Finn praised FP while she finished burning the web off Jake "Yea, that was awesome princess! you kick that spider's butt" Her smile only got bigger after hearing her friends thoughts about her "C-come on guys... it was nothing special" But neither Finn nor Jake seemed okay to leave it at that.

"No way, this occasion deserves a celebration!" Jake grinned at his bro's words before replying "You thinking what i'm thinking bro?" Finn grinned back, they high fived and said at the same time "Its... Tree Trunks apple pie time!" FP laughed at the duo until a branch snapping caught her attention. The spider not dared to move, one of its legs on top of a broken branch as it tried to make his escape before the adventurers remember he was there. The trio stared at it wondering what could they do about it before it spoke "L-look guys, im really sorry about what i did and i promise to never get in your way if you let me go... i was just looking for a present for my wife... i guess even that failed uh?" Looking like a shell of its former self the trio couldn't help but to feel bad about the spider even after it tried to eat them.

Finn walked closer to it completely unnoticed as the spider continued to mumble, taking off his backpack he quickly searched for something until he exclaimed "Aha!" and placed on the spider's hand a golden tiara with beautiful ruby decorations, the spider looked shocked at the item turning its head to look betwing the human and the item several times in disbelief before he finally got an explanation "Its okay man, you don't look evil and besides you could give it a better use than me" The spider turned the tiara over in the sunlight watching it shine with beautiful colors, letting out a long sigh he looked at and finn and said "You mentioned someone named Tree Trunks?" Finn blinked in confusion before replying "Uh yea, do you know her?" The spider flinched before answering "Kind of... just, follow me" It turned around and started walking with the adventurers following closely behind it.

 **BREAK**

Reaching a rocky area, the party of four reached a giant web placed between a wall of rock, Finn and Jake's eyes widened as they saw who was trapped in that web.

"Tree Trunks!" They said at the same time and took off in a sprint closely followed by a confused Phoebe and a sad spider.

"Oh? Finn, Jake, what a nice surprise" the senile tiny elephant seemed completely oblivious to the danger she had been in as Finn used his sword to cut the web "Tree Trunks! what are you doing this far out in the forest? you know its dangerous to come here on your own!" The human reprimanded the elephant while she simply shaked her head. "Oh don't be silly Finn, this fine gentleman was keeping me here so that i wouldn't wander anywhere dangerous on my own" She used her snout to point a the guilty looking spider behind them.

The spider seemed to shrink under the three adventurers glare "Im sorry..." It quietly mumbled as the last of his food was freed but before Finn could finish checking Tree Trunks for wounds another voice screamed behind them.

"What are you doing Ed?! the food is getting away!" Another spider slightly bigger than the one apparently called "Ed" climbed down the wall glaring daggers at her husband.

"U-uh, i know Barb but look!" Ed exclaimed as he showed barb a wrapped bundle, Barb seemed curious about the item inside as she asked him "What? what is that?" Ed excitedly handed the bundle to Barb "Its a present for you my love!" Barb blushed at her husband's words before quickly unwrapping the bundle, one of her hands covered her mouth immediately once she saw the beautiful tiara that was inside.

Ed took the tiara from her hands and gently placed it on her head "A beautiful gift, for a beautiful princess" The couple hugged lovingly and ed saw the adventurers giving him a thumbs up before quickly getting away the way they came.

 **BREAK**

Finn, Jake and Phoebe walked back to Tree Trunks house while finn questioned TT.

"Now, what were you doin-" but before finn could finish TT looked at FP and tried to start a conversation "Hello dearie, my name is Tree Trunks what is your name?"

FP looked a little amused at how the little elephant brushed off Finn's warnings "Hehe, my name is Phoebe, its very nice to meet you Tree Trunks" TT looked at her from head to toe and nodded "You're a fine young lady, please make sure to keep Finn out of trouble dearie" Both Finn and Phoebe blushed at the implications but neither of them denied it.

"I'll make sure of i Tree Trunks, I promise" FP said sincerely as a smile appeared on TT face "Oh thank you dearie, i do worry about him sometimes with all his adventuring and fighting" Finn looked a little sad a the way he cause TT to worry about him "Don't worry TT, you know im always careful" The little elephant seemed pleased with herself as she answered "I know, i know but you can never be too careful... besides im glad that despite how busy Finn always is my boy finally found someone, young love is a beautiful thing" TT concluded and got comfortable in Finn's arms oblivius about the embarrassment she was putting the pair through.

Thankfully for the both of them Jake choose that moment to speak "And we are here!" FP looked to where he was pointing at, it was very nice little pink house with quite a few apple trees around the house and a small rose garden on the side. On that same garden there was also a pig taking care of the flowers.

"What are you doing here?" Jake questioned the pig once they got close enough, he shrugged and simply said "I never really left" TT decided to elaborate further "Mr pig has been helping me... tend to my rose garden..." The trio of adventurers pretended they didn't get want TT really meant.

"U-uh okay... TT would you mind letting us have a slice of apple pie?" Finn said as he placed TT on the ground "Thanks to the gentleman from before i couldnt start in time, give me a moment" TT walked inside the house. Once she was completely out of sight Mr pig let out a sigh before saying "Oh... i love her so much" Finn and Jake immediately freaked out while FP simply looked surprised at the sudden revelation.

"Woah! you love her!?" Mr pig's eyes widened and tried to hide the fact that he just confessed his feelings "What? no" Jake seemed unimpressed as he backed up his bro "We heard you say it" But mr pig still refused to admit it "...you're crazy" FP crossed her arms and pressed on "Come on, you did say it" Mr pig looked defeated as the sudden realisation came down on him "Oh my glob... i think i am in love with her!... but i don't know how to go about it" Finn quickly replied before Tree Trunks came out of the house "Dude just tell her how you feel" Just as finn finished talking TT came out of the house and walked over to them.

"What are you guys talking about hmm?" Mr pig faltered for a moment but recovered once Finn made some signals for him to go on, letting out a shaky breath he began...

"Ms. tree trunks... ma'am, today, I wish to speak my feelings." TT looked surprised at the serious look Mr pig had "Mr pig? what's going on?" Mr pig took a deep breath before continuing " when i see you my heart beats like a choo choo train..." The rest of his words faded into the background as Finn and Phoebe stared at each other, their cheeks slowly turning red.

 _When you stand near me I get so nervous I cannot move..._

Finn moved closer to Phoebe and she felt her breath caught in her throat while Finn's heart was beating so fast it felt as if he had just ran all the way around Ooo...

 _I feel the same... i think this is what others call... Love._

Holding hands they moved even closer their faces almost touching...

 _What should we do then?_

They stopped moving, their eyes never leaving each other as they waited for the answer...

 _We should hug._

And so they did, without hesitation Finn and Phoebe pulled each other closer. Phoebe wrapped her arms around Finn's shoulders and placed her head on the crook of his neck while Finn placed his hands on her waist and rubbed his cheek on the top of her head. Sadly they had separate sooner that they would have liked thanks to the ever present burning pain that appeared if finn touched her for too long.

Slowly moving away with contented smiles on their faces they missed the way Jake, TT and Mr pig stared at them while they had their moment.

"Ah... love is a wonderful thing" TT commented while leaning against Mr pig's chest, Jake felt a strange sense of pride while seeing his little bro's actions. Mostly because he knew what the way he looked at her and the way she looking at him meant... he had looked just like that everytime he first went on dates with lady, his little bro loved someone and someone loved him back. It wasn't the same childish crush he had with princess Bubblegum.

Both of them were young and a lot of things could change in an instant but he was sure this would work out, Finn always had his back whenever he needed him and Jake would offer nothing less if it ever came to that.

 **BREAK**

After saying goodbye to Tree Trunks and Mr pig the trio made their way towards the Candy Kingdom after TT reminded them of the science music show.

"Man i cant believe we forgot about it" Finn said to his bro while holding hands with FP letting go occasionally to let the pain subside until he was okay again.

Jake waved his worries away with his hand "Its fine, its been a pretty crazy lately, we just forgot with all the excitement" The magic dog started to walk slightly ahead of the pair trying to give them some space to talk, he was sure they would have a few matters to settle.

Finn mentally thanked Jake as he moved ahead leaving him and Phoebe in private, he turned to look at her admiring the view of the Kingdom gates on the distance.

"Hey... Phoebe?" Finn said getting her attention and a beautiful smile in return "Yes?" His heart speeded up again when she looked at him making what he was about to ask come out as a mixed mess. "U-uh, stay is, you want..." His face turned red while FP giggled at his nervousness "Hehehe, im not sure i understand Finn" Finn stopped walking and stood face to face with FP, she felt a little nervous under his intense gaze until he finally spoke.

"Phoebe... would you like to live with us?" Her mind came to a halt at the sudden question "W-what? Finn... d-don't i already do?" She replied nervously but Finn shaked his head "No, I don't mean as a guest... I mean, you can live "live" at our house if you want." FP sighed and closed her eyes pondering the question.

What was there to return at? her cage? a kingdom that wanted her not as a princess but as a monster to be contained? Today had easily the most fun and happiest day in her life, adventuring, fighting, exploring and meeting new people. Things that she could only dream of back at home as she slowly wasted away trapped day after day, but now she was free! and on top of that there was Finn... the brave human hero that welcomed her into his life as she had always been there.

She opened her eyes to look at their hands, he held her hand in his as if protecting it from anything that might hurt her despite the fact that she was no doubt hurting him by simply touching his hand. Her eyes traveled back to his anxious face, he looked afraid that she might reject him... the silly boy.

Getting closer to him she quickly hugged him, stepping back and taking a deep breath trying to not heat up to much thanks to the emotions she felt at the moment.

"Of course i'll stay Finn, there is nowhere else i'd rather be..." Finn let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and smiled at FP "Hm, i have a feeling things are going to get a lot more interesting from now on" FP smiled back before replying "Yea... im sure they will" Suddenly Finn turned around and started walking the oposite way, to the tree house.

FP was surprised for a moment before simply shaking her head and moving closer to finn, he hesitated for a moment not sure if he was doing the right thing.

"Im sorry... do you want t-" FP placed a finger to his lips and smiled "Not at all... let's go back home, Finn" they walked back to the three house in confortable silence as they slowly got smaller over the horizon.

Jake simply shaked his head and smiled and resumed his walk towards the Candy Kingdom, it would not be as fun on his own but he could handle it for one day.

They had many more days ahead of them after all!

AN:So there it is, i kinda liked how it turned out, i think im going to stick to the canon story with a few things changing here and there. let me know what you guys think about it.

Dev-thanks for the review! im glad you like it.

KRUSA1-thanks for the tip! i didn't even know there was a AT game :o

The-Yodahawk-Thanks for the review, expect more soon!


	5. Revelations

Back at the treehouse Finn and Phoebe sat close to each other with a controller in their hands while BMO booted up kompy's kastle.

"Wow... so this is what you meant when you said you wanted to play BMO together" FP commented surprised the little robot could also be used for entertainment, Finn laughed at her expression before replying "Yea BMO can do lots of cool stuff" The couple played a couple of levels together before talking again "Will jake get mad at us for leaving him back there?" FP asked finn slightly worried about the magic dog but Finn shaked his head "Nah, im sure he won't mind, hes cool like that. Besides... I thought it would be nice to have some time on our own" FP noded at his words, since she got there they hadn't taken the time to sit and talk with each other.

"That does sound nice... um what would you like to talk about?" She asked placing the controler back on the table as Finn did the same "Hm... how about you tell me about yourself?" FP sighed at the question before answering "There's not much to tell really... I was imprisoned since I was a baby, no one ever told me why though so i just accepted it. Some of the royal servants teached me basic stuff like talking and writing but i picked up everything else on my own." Finn looked furious at the revelation "What?! how could anyone do something like that for no reason?!" She gently took his and into hers and calmly replied "It doesn't matter anymore, im here now and im never going back to that" Finn gripped her hand tightly already getting used to the pain prolonged contact caused him.

"That's true.. I guess its my turn now isn't it? let's see... Jake's parents found me in the middle of the forest one day and brought me back to their home were they raised me, jake and jake's brother jermaine together. Once we were older we decided to explore Ooo until we found the tree house and we've been living here ever since" FP smiled sadly at Finn, both of them had been abandoned by the people they cared the most about and now that they were together she couldn't help but to wonder if things were supposed to happen like this.

Not wanting the conversation to stop on sensitive themes she quickly asked "Hey, now that i think about it... why did Jake went in your place to the fire kingdom?" Finn looked uncomfortable at the sudden question but decided to answer honestly "To be honest... he was just trying to find me some other girl to go out with... after the last girl I tried to date started to reject me" FP flames got a little more intense after a pang of jealousy hit her core but quickly composed herself "Who was she? if you don't mind me asking" Finn hesitated before answering.

"It was princess Bubblegum..."

 **BREAK**

Turning around at the mention of her title PB saw jake as he walked closer to her.

"Hey princess, sorry we couldn't make it in time..." The concert had ended a few minutes ago and now she and a few of the candy people were packing her lab equipment back up and moving it back to the castle.

She tried to not look hurt at the fact that neither him nor Finn attended even after she made sure the highest bench seats were reserved for them knowing those were the adventurers favorite spots to sit, smiling at the magic dog she replied "It's fine, something must have come up for you guys to miss it" Jake let out a laugh "Ha ha, you could say that" Looking around PB was surprised to not see Finn anywhere, he and Jake were always together.

"Where is Finn? Did he not come with you?" Jake smiled devilishly before replying "Nope, you see princess... little finn has finally started to become a man and every good man needs a good lady" the magic dog's thoughts drifted to lady rainicorn, completely missing princess Bubblegum confused expression "So... is he with someone then? who is it?" Jake hesitate before answering "I... don't think Finn would like it if i went around telling everyone, its a little complicated you know?" Bubblegum nodded in understanding.

"I get it, i'll have to go visit sometime soon then" Jake gave a thumbs up "Sure, come by anytime! Now if you excuse me... i have a date with a delicious apple pie" the magic dog walked away most likely looking for tree trunks, leaving the princess on her own.

She continued cleaning except her mind filled with questions about the human boy, was he that busy that he would miss her concert? with the feelings he had for her it surprised her that he wouldn't even come by to apologise in person. Not only that but the fact that Jake refused to tell her about who he was hanging with...

 _Every good man needs a good lady..._

Her eyes widened in realisation, was Finn on a date with one of the princesses? but who could it be? and for what reason would Jake not answer? most of the princesses keep in touch with each other at first in attempts to maintain good relations with the other kingdoms but slowly friendships started to form between them, even Finn wanted to keep his relationship hidden it would eventually come out to light wherever he liked it or not.

Maybe she would check on him real quick... only because she needed to make sure he didn't blew his chances with the other princess. Repeating that like a mantra on her head she ordered some of the nearby banana guards to take charge of the cleanup and quickly walked to the castle for a change of clothes before making her way to the tree house on the morrow.

 **BREAK**

"Baby blue of course!" Finn replied excitedly, after sharing the history he had with PB their conversation had slowly moved towards like and dislikes. Phoebe giggled while pointing at his clothes "Obviously, it kinda hard not to notice you know?" The human turned red at her teasing "Haha i guess that's true".

FP stared at him for a moment before speaking "Do you ever take that hat off? i don't think i have seen you without it" Finn smiled and slowly took the white bear hat off letting his short messy blond hair show "I usually wear it unless I cant, i've had it since I was a baby so its kinda special to me you know?" She nodded admiring the boy's hair.

"BMO really likes finn's hair too!" FP turned to look a the little robot still on the table listening in their conversation, Finn jumped on his seat surprised at the sudden interruption "BMO? have you been spying on us?" BMO seemed amused as he placed his tiny hands on his face "I've been here the entire time but neither of you noticed me" Both adventurers turned red at their intimate talk was being spied on.

A sudden knock grabbed the attention of everyone in the living room "I guess Jake is back, hm... did I lock the door?" Finn tried to remember before the sound of the door opening and closing stopped him, followed by someone climbing the ladder to the second floor "Hey man, did you saved us any..." Finn's eyes widened in surprise at Bubblegum sudden appearance in his house while PB looked just as shocked at the presence of the fire princess in the human's house.

There was complete silence for a few moments, no one sure of what to say to break the tension in the room until finn had enough "Uh hi princess... did you need something?" PB looked at finn and FP several times "I came here to check on you and you should be glad I did before something happened!" she said glaring at the fire elemental in the room.

Frowning at the rude attitude of the princess phoebe replied "What's your problem? what happens between me and Finn is none of your business" But this only seemed make PB angrier "It is my business when you put the lives of everyone in Ooo in danger!" PB pointed at Phoebe as she spoke. Finn interrupted at the sudden accusation "Woah! what gives PB?!" The princess turned to look at the hero "Finn, she is dangerous! whatever is going on here has to stop now. I don't know how she managed to escape her lamp but-" Phoebe interjected before PB could finish "And just how do you know about that!?".

Before the princess could come up with an explanation Phoebe's eyes widened in realisation "It was you... wasn't it? it was your idea to lock me up!" Her flames moved in all directions burning way hotter now that her anger took control of her actions, her body grew in size as her face morphed in anger. The fire spread across the floor and walls forcing finn, BMO and the princess to back away from her.

"Phoebe please calm down! this isn't you!" Finn pleaded and it seemed to work for a moment before a white ray of light hit Phoebe right in the chest where a chunk of ice suddenly appeared and started to melt, making the elemental scream in agony as she slowly got smaller. Finn turned around to see princess Bubblegum with a small gun on her hand "It's too late Finn! we have to put her out!" PB prepared to fire again before Finn knocked the gun out her hand "NO! she's not dangerous princess, you are hurting her!" Another scream sounded through the house as the ice chunk melted and more and more water poured directly onto phoebe's body.

The fire in the ground went out completely in the wet floor while the fire in the walls moved back into her, attempting to compensate for the sudden moisture in her body. Reaching for his backpack finn quickly pulled out his sword and jumped on top of the fire elemental his skin burning at the contact while he used the handle of the sword to break the leftover ice that clung to her body "Don't worry phoebe, its going to be okay! you're okay!" Finn sounded like he was trying to convince himself instead of reassuring her.

With the last of the ice gone phoebe's fire slowly gained strength again but even then she still looked gray at colder at the touch, shrinking back to her normal size Finn caught her before she hit the floor, easily carrying her in his arms. Looking at her her unconscious form he hugged her tightly before looking over his shoulder, PB stood there with a nervous expression in her face "Finn... if she stays this could-" "Leave" Disbelief took over her features while she looked at the hero wondering if he had actually said that.

"F-finn? what did you..." Finn once again interrupted her, this time with more force than before "Leave now princess" Bubblegum flinched at his words and slowly moved towards the exit "I-im sorry..." she muttered before leaving the room, finn didn't move from his spot until he heard the front door close. He quickly moved towards the stairs that led to his bedroom and climbed with the unconscious elemental still in his arms.

He gently placed her in his bed making sure she was comfortable, cleaning the trash off a small stool that was nearby he took a seat and decided to watch over her for the night. She was still breathing and slowly but surely her color was returning to her skin which made him let out a sigh of relief but with the adrenaline of the moment gone his sword fell out of his hand as pain shot through his arms and hands.

The skin was completely red and he could see a few blisters appearing, Laying down his arms on the bed he slowly moved one of his hands towards Phoebe's and held it softly "Please be okay... i need you to be okay... i need you..." The emotional and physical stress had taken a toll on his body while he felt his eyes get heavier and heavier until sleep finally overtook him.

 **BREAK**

Jaked arrived to the house a few minutes later with a half eaten apple pie on his hand, normally he would have eaten all of it but while Phoebe didn't really eat normal food jake count let her miss out on one of Tree Trunks pies, closing the door behind him and stretching to the second floor both his jaw and pie fell to the floor at the sight that waited for him.

The floor was covered in water and some of the walls looked burned, the seats his bro prepared were burnt too but what really caught his attention was the half burned bear hat on the floor. runing up to pick it up he screamed while he looked around "Finn?! BMO?! Phoebe?! is anyone here?!" before he could start to search the rooms the refrigerator opened slightly and a scared BMO peeked through the opening "J-jake? is it over?" The magic dog quickly walked up to the refrigerator and pulled out the tiny robot.

"BMO! are you okay? what happened? where's Finn and Phoebe?" The little robot shaked in fear at the memory but quickly reassured his friend "F-finn is okay i think... but his girlfriend looked really hurt, he is in his room with her right now" Not wasting any time he stretched all the way to their room and let out a sigh of relief when he saw both his friends asleep.

Looking over at his brother he saw the burns he had and quickly pulled out a small medkit they kept under the bed for emergencies, Taking a closer look at phoebe she simply seemed tired with no wounds on her body, other than the discoloration she was perfectly fine.

The magic dog set out to work on cleaning and bandaging his brother's wounds as quietly as posible, he would find out what happened soon enough but for now making sure the both of them were okay was the first thing on his mind.

 **BREAK**

Bubblegum entered her room and locked the door behind her, she had messed up. She didn't mean to trigger such a reaction from the Flame princess but the moment she saw her so close to Finn...

Quickly shaking off such thoughts out of her head she jumped on her bed and pulled out her diary from under the pillows, writing as many outcomes and plans to each of them until she came across a picture of him.

Finn was smiling in the picture, the same goofy smile that radiated positivity when she was around him. Nothing compared to how cold and angry he sounded after he kicked her out of his home. Dropping her pencil she picked up he picture of the human hero and pursed her lips trying to ignore the tears that started to cloud her vision.

She used her free hand to cover her mouth trying to muffe the sobs that escaped her lips and pressed the picture to her chest "I-im sorry Finn, im so sorry... i didn't mean to, i didn't mean to... please don't hate me" Minutes passed until her crying subsided as her puffy eyes slowly closed, tomorrow she would be back to the logical and analytical princess that placed her people first, but just a moment that night she allowed herself to simply be bonnibel.

With those last thoughts she drifted back into a deep sleep.

AN:another one down, things are moving faster this time. About the way this story is going to be i plan to have cannon events happen but at the same time im not just going to paste FP onto the canon events, most of the changes will be related to FP and finn's relationship. Its kinda hard to give an explanation about the future of this story given i just started with no experience or preparation so forgive me if you were expecting something with more quality or planing.

ManofPewter- Thank you for the tip, i'll make sure to keep that in mind.

Cosmos21- Thanks for reviewing, more coming soon!

et-reader97- I feel you, after everything they went through i was annoyed at how FP would never let finn explain why he did what he did. Oh well, at least they will be together forever and have beautiful babies in my imagination.


	6. Defiance

When Phoebe woke up in the middle of the night she almost wished she didn't, her entire body hurt and it was surprisingly cold. She could see Jake asleep in an odd position in his bed, an empty coffee mug in his hand and a sleepy BMO in the other... wait, why was Jake in her room? her eyes widened in realisation as she looked around.

She wasn't in her room, it was Finn and Jake's room but why...

Last night events replayed in her head and her flames regained some of their usual liveliness if only for a moment, princess Bubblegum... she was the one behind everything! and on top of that she almost killed her, she would have had it not been for Finn.

The human boy was asleep right next to her with a peaceful expression on his face, but sadly he had not been lucky enough to get out unscated. His arms and hands were covered in bandages, wounds that she had caused him once again. The elemental sighed and stared the boy, he had done so much for her in so little time and everything she had done so far was to hurt him in return.

She was colder than normal for now, so she would not hurt him if she touched longer this time... Slowly moving closer to him she made sure Jake was completely asleep before wrapping her arms around the human's neck and placed her head on his chest. His heart beated loud and clear, the sound reassuring her that he was okay. She let out a surprised gasp when a bandaged hand grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer.

"Finn?" Phoebe quietly asked not wanting to disturb the sleep of the others in the room.

"Hey..." Replied the tired voice of the human.

"Hey yourself... are you okay?" FP asked hoping his wounds were nothing serious "I'm okay, are you okay? you feel kinda cold.." Her core trembled at the worry Finn showed for her "I-im fine, my temperature should get back to normal after a few hours. Finn nodded and closed his eyes again, enjoying the moment while he still could.

The two heroes slowly let sleep overtake them once more, enjoying the warmth their bodies offered.

 **BREAK**

When Finn woke up again he was alone in his room and a delicious smell came from downstairs, slowly getting up from the bed to not hurt himself he made his way downstairs. Jake was cooking something and Phoebe was seated on the table with a plate full of coal, her flames back with the shine and color they always had and they only got brighter once she saw him coming in.

"Finn!" FP quickly walked over to the boy "Hey guys, what are we having? im starving!" Finn and Phoebe took a seat right next to each other but Jake seemed to have something else on his mind.

Leaving the spaghetti he was making on the stove he pulled a chair and took a seat right in front of the two and started with a serious expression on his face "Alright you two, what happened last night?" Finn's good mood disappeared immediately and Phoebe closed her eyes a took a few deep breaths to calm herself.

"Simply put? princess Bubblegum tried to kill phoebe" The magic dog's eyes almost popped out of his sockets "What?! you telling me she just attacked like that? for no reason?" The human nodded sadly "Yea man, she just flipped like that, started saying that Phoebe was dangerous and that she had to go back to her lamp" Jake pondered the information for a moment.

"Is there any reason why she would think that Phoebe?" Jake questioned the fire elemental but before she could answer Finn quickly intervened "What are you trying to say man?" Jake raised his hands in a pacifing manner "Hey bro im not accusing her of anything, its just that... princess Bubblegum wouldn't just do stuff like that and you know it" As much as Finn wanted to object he knew Bubblegum too well to believe she would just harm anyone without a good reason.

Phoebe started to feel a little nervous in the silence that followed but she couldn't think of a good reason for the princess aggression, the Fire kingdom was not the friendliest but she wasn't part of it anymore and even then the princess had specified that she was the dangerous one...

Letting out a long sigh she shaked her head "I don't know guys... maybe just because she thought i would try to harm Finn or something... being a fire elemental and all" Jake got out of his seat and went back to the kitchen "Well... whatever the reason, we will find out soon enough, after you two are done eating we are going to the Candy Kingdom"

Finn immediately objected "No way man! what if she tries something or worse, what if she locks Phoebe back up again? besides I cant fight with my arms like this..." But Jake didn't seem convinced "Don't be so dramatic man, we are just going to talk about things, no fighting allowed" he pointed at the upset human.

"Fine! but cant you at least let me have some of the giant's tears? I promise to not be a butt" Jake let out a nervous laugh at the peticion "H-he he about that..." One of his arms stretched out to the nearby room and brought back a big empty bottle.

"Are you serious? were out of magic tears?" The magic dog simply shrugged and place the bottle back into the room "Don't look at me like that, you didn't keep track of how many times we used them either" Finn sighed and slumped back into his seat "Man... this sucks" Phoebe flinched at the words and quickly apologised.

"I-im sorry Finn... I didn't mean to lose control" realising his mistake Finn replied "No no no, I didn't mean it like that, its fine Phoebe... I would gladly do it again if I had to" Both adventurers blushed at the confesion, Jake shaked his head while he placed a plate with spaghetti in front of Finn "How about you guys focus on eating and leave the flirting for later? i would prefer to go to bed in time today" Both Finn and Phoebe blushed even harder and quickly started their meal not wanting to embarrass themselves further.

Jake took a seat after he filled his cup with coffee, this would be another long day.

 **BREAK**

Peppermint butler knocked on the door to his princesses lab for the tenth time, she had not gone out since she woke up that morning and was not answering to his or the guards calls. Letting out a sigh he placed the tray with tea and sweets on the floor and quickly made a small hole on the floor that went under the door and into the lab, if the princess did not go to him he would go to her.

On the other side of the locked door princess Bubblegum focused on the prototype weapon she was working with, an ice foam launcher that would hopefully be less lethal than her regular anti-fire weapons. She had to be ready for anything regarding the Flame princess, the entire world would pay the prize if she ever overheated.

She would also have to talk to Finn soon or else she would never be able to get close enough to the Fire elemental, if he distrusted her... which he probably did thanks to last night's events. The sound of the soft candy breaking caught her attention, she turned around to see her butler dig a hole big enough for him to go through before going back down and placing a tray with refreshments on the floor.

Picking up the tray and dusting himself off the butler walked up to her side "My lady, i brought tea and sweets"

PB sighed and picked up a cup "Thank you peppermint butler, did something happen while i was gone?" the butler shaked his head before replying "Not at all, no problems in the kingdom and Finn and Jake should be here soon"

PB nodded "Oh well that's- Wait! Finn and Jake are coming?" The butler seemed confused at her reaction "Of course my lady, did you not call for them?" PB shaked her head and tried to calm her nerves "No, i definitely didn't call them!" After a few deep breaths she prepared to give orders "I want the banana guards to follow Finn and Jake if a fire elemental is with them, they are not to be left alone but tell them to not detain them and do not attack them either" The butler quickly bowed before replying "Right away my lady".

Going back into the hole he made to get into her lab the butler disappeared from her sight, Quickly placing the prototype in a safe box she picked up all the notes and graphs regarding the Flame princess condition, The heroes would want an explanation and this time she couldn't afford to make mistakes, not in the middle of her kingdom.

 **BREAK**

Phoebe could see the candy kingdom getting closer, the air was disgustingly sweet as was apparently everything else around it. Trees, rocks, rivers and even the ground itself seemed to be made of different types of candy. Neither Finn nor Jake seemed to mind though, probably from all the times they had come here already.

"Wish we could be here under better circumstances..." Finn quietly said to her, she nodded but said nothing. While she did look better than before she could feel her strength still missing, the human caught on to her worried face and gave her a bright smile "Dont worry, im not letting anything happen to you Phoebe, i swear".

She smiled back and kissed his cheek making her flames flare out in excitement "I know, just don't go around getting yourself hurt..." The red faced human flexed his bandaged arms "This is nothing, my body can take a lot more!" Phoebe poked lightly one of the bandaged arms and almost laughed at the muffled whimpers Finn let out.

"A lot more uh?" Finn rubbed the spot she poked at with an embarrassed smile on his face "H-ha ha, i'll take it easy for today at least" Phoebe nodded in agreement "Besides if what Jake said was true then we won't be having to fight today, right?" Finn was quiet for a moment before replying "Phoebe... if anything goes wrong we have a friend that can help you, she lives just past the Candy Kingdom. Her name is Marceline" But before he could continue Phoebe cut him off "If anything goes wrong? are you sure we should be going in the first place?".

The human pondered the question for a moment "To be honest... i don't know, i thought i knew princess Bubblegum but after last night im not sure anymore" Phoebe looked over to see the gates of the kingdom come into view "Can't turn back now anyway" Both of them took a moment to steel themselves while they could.

Jake slowly shrinked back to his normal size as finn and phoebe jumped off his back, the trio walked quickly in silence not wanting the sweet citizens to freak out about the presence of a fire elemental in the kingdom. Or they would have had the streets not been empty with only banana guards to be seen walking around.

"Hey... doesn't the place look a little empty to you?" Jake quietly asked his brother "Yea, do you think something happened?" Both brothers pondered about the situation while phoebe looked around.

She had a bad feeling since she step into the walls on the kingdom and the lack of people other than guards only made it worse, she could swear that they were following them since a patrol of them would always be conveniently nearby. Once inside the castle the guards disappeared leaving only an eerie atmosphere with the silence there was in the place.

The trio walked into the throne room to find the princess already waiting for them.

"Finn, Jake... princess" PB got up from her seat and walked over to a table that had been placed in the middle of the room with several chairs, taking a seat she motioned for everyone else to do the same.

Finn and Phoebe did so reluctantly, unsure what her intentions could be. Jake didn't seem to notice the tension in the room quickly taking a seat "Hey PB, where you waiting for us?" PB nodded but said nothing glaring at finn and phoebe who returned the glare in full.

Clearing her throat the candy princess began.

"I know why are you here and i will admit that the way i handled the situation was wrong-" "Gee, you think?!" ignoring the comment from the human the princess continued "-but that doesn't mean what you are doing is okay Finn, she is dangerous." Phoebe's flames grew in intensity at the accusation "You keep saying that! why am I dangerous? you ruined my life once and now you want to take my freedom from me again!" PB calmly replied to the fire elemental "You are unstable princess, your elemental matrix cant handle extreme emotions" PB pointed at Finn and Phoebe "Your relationship is putting everyone at risk because of it, even a kiss could make you lose control and melt through the ground until you reached the center of the earth, gravity would keep you trapped there until you burned the earth from the inside, why do you think i had your father imprison you all those years ago?".

The trio of adventurers fell silent at the sudden revelation, the room went a little darker when Phoebe's flames shrinked and dulled. Finn felt his heart tug at the sight and quickly asked "There has to be something you can do, right princess?! a potion or a spell or something!" But bubblegum simply shook her head "I cant fix this Finn, i tried years ago... there is no way to fix her, the best thing to do right now would be to send her back to the fire kingdom-" before she could finish finn angrily slammed his bandaged fist on the table.

"And lock her up forever?! Grob that!" Jake tried to calm down the enraged human "Finn calm down! you are going to hurt yourself!" But Finn wasn't listening "No man this is bull, Phoebe deserves better than that and if she's not helping then fine! I will fix this on my own!" Bubblegum looked unsurprised at the human's statement and calmly replied "What are you going to do then Finn? you have no plan or knowledge about this stuff" Finn suddenly got up from his seat and lifted Phoebe along with him "i'll prove you're wrong".

"Finn...?" The elemental asked as Finn placed his hands on her cheeks and moved his face closer "Don't worry, I know you wont hurt me, I trust you" Until he closed the distance between them as he kissed her.

Blinding light filled the entire room followed by a wave of heat as Jake and Bubblegum were thrown back, quickly rising to her feet as the light slowly disappeared, Bubblegum expected to see a crater and a charred human in the floor but her eyes went wide in surprise when she found both the fire elemental and finn still in the room even as the hole they were in slowly got deeper.

When their lips touched it was like a flood gate had been opened and her core filled with energy, except it didn't stop. It keep flowing into her making her fire burn hotter by the second. She tried to hold back, to stop herself from burning so fast but everything seemed useless against the flow of energy in her body.

"You c-can do it Phoebe..." She opened her eyes to see finn still holding on to her, even as his clothes and skin burned he refused to let her go and fall "Y-your emotions are causing this, but you can control them... don't let them... control you..." With last of his resistance giving out, Finn passed out on top of her. His words resonated in her head, she was causing this and only she could stop it now.

She screamed in pain as she forced the fire back deep down into her core, screaming in pain as the flow of energy stopped and slowly redirected itself back in. It hurt so much... as if for the first time her own fire was burning her insides but she refused to give up, finn believed in her, he believed that she could prove them all wrong and she would not let him down.

The fire elemental decent suddenly stopped even as she let out blood curdling screams that no doubt expressed the pain she was in. Despite the situation Bubblegum couldn't help but to smile, the descent had stopped which meant that she was not burning nearly as hot as her calculations expected, they still had time to stop the reaction!

She quickly ran up to the magic dog that stared in shock at the scene in front of them" Jake take me to my lab, quickly!" Jake seemed to shocked to oppose at the sudden demand, placing her on his back he took off on he direction of the lab, PB muttered under her breath the seconds that passed until they reached the door. With a giant fist jake punched down the door and placed bubblegum down, who quickly unlocked her safe box and pulled out an weird looking gun from the inside.

Climbing back on the magic dog they made their way back into the throne room, she only hoped whatever the Flame princess was doing would hold out until they made it back.

 **BREAK**

Phoebe pushed Finn off her if only to keep his wounds from getting worse, more screams and grunts of pain escaped from her mouth as she put everything she had into calming down. The energy was slowly but surely getting easier to move and she would not waste the opportunity, wrapping her arms around herself she hugged herself tightly as if the action would help her regain control of her power.

The fire that spread into the throne room slowly moved back inside her body but it was still not enough, as much as she tried she couldn't stop the reaction completely. She turned to look at the unconscious form of Finn, he had risked his life to give her a chance to prove herself and she had failed, her strength slowly disappeared as doubt clouded her mind and fire spread across the room once more.

The hole she was in started getting deeper once more until she couldn't see the room anymore, closing her eyes she prepared to accept whatever came next even as warm tears fell from her eyes...

Suddenly the air seemed to grow scarce as she struggled to breathe, looking up at the entrance of the hole her eyes widened in surprise as it seemed to have been completely covered with something. Her flames quickly died down until she was barely conscious, a giant yellow hand slowly grabbed her and pulled her up.

The light coming closer was the last thing she saw before she passed out.

 **BREAK**

After punching the remaining ice off the top of the hole Jake placed Phoebe down on the floor after he pulled her out, in the now ruined throne room PB quickly moved and examined both the human and the elemental letting out a sigh of relief when she finished.

"It's fine Jake, they just passed out" The magic dog walked up to his brother not fully convinced "Are you sure princess? Finn has been burned before but it was never this bad..." PB looked over at the human before replying "Third degree burns... he will be fine but there will definitely be some scarring, even with surgery" Jake nodded while she spoke, satisfied with the answer.

"Now, help me bring them back to the hospital Finn needs treatment right away" PB walked outside of the room on the way to the hospital followed by Jake with both Finn and Phoebe on his back.

"I know Finn messed up princess but please don't be angry with either of them, they did what they felt was right" PB sighed at jake's words, she wasn't really angry at them despite the destruction and near end of the world that followed. "It's fine Jake... your my friends, I was wrong too... the Flame princess held back, I didn't think something like that was posible" The magic dog gave a hearty laugh before replying "Guess Finn did prove you wrong uh?" PB laughed too at the fact that she had been proved wrong by the human boy "Yes... i suppose he did".

They silently walked the rest of the way, not wanting to waste anymore time.

 **BREAK**

Phoebe slowly opened her eyes to find herself in another unknown room, she almost panicked when she didn't saw Finn or Jake waiting for her but princess bubblegum.

"Oh, you are awake" PB commented, placing the book she had been reading down on her lap "You probably have lots of questions, lets see... it has been a few hours since you passed out, Finn is in the operating room right now and Jake is with him. No, im not going to hurt you but i did want to be the first to talk to you" Having most of her questions answered in one go Phoebe relaxed back into the hospital bed.

"Why did you want to talk to me then?" PB didn't seem to mind or care about the harsh tone in her voice "I just wanted to say... im sorry" Phoebe's eyes went wide at the sudden apology but Bubblegum didn't stop there "I'm sorry about what I said about you but you have to understand that im just trying to protect everyone, I couldn't fix your problem so I did the second best thing I could think of... I contained you in a place where you would be safe from others and yourself".

Phoebe was speechless after the confession, her mouth moved but no words came out. PB continued once she realised no reply was coming "Finn did prove me wrong you know? you almost stopped the reaction from continuing" Silence took over the room once more after bubblegum finished.

"...can you take me to them?" Phoebe asked Bubblegum after taking a moment to digest the information, PB nodded as she got out of her seat and walked to the door "Can you walk?" Phoebe slowly got up to her feet trying to keep her legs from shaking too much, taking a few cautious steps toward the door she looked at the candy princess "Im okay, lead the way".

The walk was relatively short given the Candy Kingdom never really used the hospital, most wounds to be found needing barely any recovery time. But in this case it was very different.

The pair reached an empty waiting area and a worried Jake walking in circles right next to the emergency room doors, Phoebe quickly walked over calling out to the magic dog "Jake! are you okay?" Jake seemed surprised to see her up so soon after what happened but happy nonetheless.

"Im fine Phoebe... its Finn who im more worried about" Phoebe quickly turned to look a the princess behind her "What happened to Finn?" PB sighed and took a seat in one of the empty chairs "He suffered severe burns after he... kissed you, its nothing life threatening but he still needs medical care" PB blushed at the mention of the kiss the human and the elemental shared.

Phoebe's face went red a the memory of her first kiss but quickly shaked it out of her mind, Finn needed her help right now. Turning to look at Jake she asked "Jake, Finn said that the magic tears of the giant would heal anything right?" The magic dog looked confused for a second before replying "Uh yea but we ran out a while ago" Phoebe made up her mind in and instant and boldly declared "If i go get some more, Finn will be back to normal right?".

Jake's eyes widened once the he realised what the princess was hinting at "No, no way you are going on your own to search for the giant. Besides i don't even know where Finn found him in the first place" Phoebe smiled at the magic dog before replying "I do, Finn told me all about his adventure!" Letting out a defeated sigh Jake shrugged "Well... okay, we can go tomorrow morning to search for more tears" .

PB made a suggestion that they could find useful "Finn still has the enchiridion right? if the giant isn't in the same place you could always search for him in the places that the book says he lives in".

The conversation suddenly stopped as Doctor princess walked out the doors to the emergency rooms "Ah, you are all here, good. Please follow me" The trio quickly followed behind the doctor as they walked through the corridors.

As they walked PB was the first to talk "Doctor princess, how did everything go?" The doctor took a moment to think before replying "The surgery was a success princess Bubblegum but he will have to stay in here for a few weeks at least... " Guilt slowly creeped onto Phoebe's mind until they reached the room Finn was staying in.

"He is still unconscious but he's stable, now, if you excuse me." The doctor quickly made her way towards another room leaving the trio on their own.

"We should come in..." Jake said as he slowly opened the door, neither of the princesses said anything as they followed him inside.

Phoebe's hands covered her mouth as she saw the state of the human hero.

Bandages covered his entire torso, arms and hands leaving no skin to be shown. Various machines were connected to him making sure he was well cared for, even if there was no one else in the room, despite the situation Finn was in his sleeping face looked peaceful as if what happened had been nothing but a bad dream.

Phoebe slowly walked up to his side, she wanted to hug him and cry and kiss him back... but she knew better, she had hurt him more than enough for the day. Jake moved up to the other side of the bed placing his hand on the cheek of his brother "Finn... you're going to be okay, we'll find you those tears and you will be good as new".

PB simply stayed back letting them have a moment of privacy with Finn until eventually came to an end, checking her watch PB noticed it was getting late and they would have to get ready if they wanted to go searching tomorrow morning.

"I will watch over him while you are gone" PB said getting the attention of the pair.

"You better..." Phoebe said as she left the room with jake behind her leaving PB alone in the room, She walked over to the sleeping human and placed a hand on his bandaged chest "Oh, Finn..."

 **BREAK**

As soon as Phoebe made outside the kingdom she quickly let her flames grow and flew in direction of the three house, leaving a behind Jake who quickly tried to catch up in his enlarged state.

Being the first one to reach the tree house she quickly moved to the living room searching for everything she might need during the search, reluctantly grabing one of finn's discarted backpacks and filling it up with her own stuff until Jake came in "Phoebe..." Jake tried to comfort the fire elemental only to be ignored as she continued preparing the pack.

"Done, im going to bed early tonight Jake" She turned to her room before a long large hand blocked her way.

"It's not your fault, Finn knew what he was doing" Phoebe slapped the hand away and turned to look at the magic dog with an angry look on her face.

"Not my fault?! I almost killed him Fake, this would have never happened if I wasn't here!"

Jake took a deep breath before replying "But you are here Phoebe, Finn and I wanted you to come to live here with us. Finn won't hate you because of this and I won't either, things could have gone better sure. But this is the hand we were dealt and now we gotta make the best of it" Jake placed a hand on her shoulder for a moment before quickly removing it not wanting his fur to catch on fire.

"Glob... Jake, im so sorry about all of this" Phoebe said as a few of her tears fell to the ground "Its fine... princess bubblegum will watch over him while we search for more tears, we got this" Jake made a fist with his hand and placed it in front of phoebe using his other hand to point at it "Come on now, you gonna leave me hanging?".

Phoebe wiped the tears away and pushed her fist against jake's while he made an explosion noise with his mouth.

"Oh yeah! there we go, now don't worry about the packing and stuff. I'll have it all ready to go for tomorrow, go get some sleep" Phoebe reluctantly made her way towards her own room, slowly climbing down the ladder.

"Jake... thank you, I really needed that" Jake send her a thumbs up and a bright smile as she finally reached the floor.

Taking a seat on her bed she made sure to replay the story Finn told her once more in her head, lying down on the bed once she was certain she remembered everything about it. Despite the guilt and worry that still lingered in her heart she drifted into a peaceful sleep with the smiling face of the human in her mind.

AN: I don't like this one but i didn't want to go that long without an update, gotta keep the pen moving and all that, might come back to polish it in the future though.

The Book of Eli: Im glad you are enjoying it so far!

KRUSA1: Thanks for the ideas, im not sure how long i plan to keep this story going but i appreciate it anyway!

Adremuljadi: Thanks for the review, more coming soon!


	7. Adventure time with Phoebe and jake

Walking through the forest would have been calming and relaxing in any other situation, with the green trees and warm lights of sunray peeking through the leafs. But of course neither of the adventurers noticed any of these things after days worth of search, Jake walked high up in the sky following the path Finn had followed when he came here while Phoebe flew in circles around him, keeping her eyes open for anything suspicious.

Jake called out the elemental once she was close enough "Hey, you sure this is the right way? im not seeing anything resembling a giant cyclops..." Phoebe stopped moving before replying "I think so... Finn wasn't very specific with his directions, he said he just walked in a straight line after leaving the tree house. What does it say in the enchiridion?" Jake grew an extra pair of arms to search the backpack strapped to his back, making sure to not drop the empty bottle or the family sword that were inside.

Jake pulled out the book and once he found the correct chapter he began reading...

 _CHAPTER TEN_

 _THE_

 ** _CYCLOPS_**

 _What cyclops lack in depth perception they make up for being really tall and crying a lot. Cyclops if you are reading this then get over it, we all have problems and you don't see us complaining about it. It not all that bad though, cyclopses tears have mystic healing properties that will make a fine reward for any hero brave enough to find them. The cyclops tears consist of-_

"Bla bla bla, move on to the important stuff Jake!" Phoebe urged the magic dog.

 _Cyclopses can be found in the forest around Ooo, its also worth noting that their close similarities with the forest can be used as some sort of camouflage, making them difficult to find..._

"Well that's just great... the one Finn found probably found another hiding spot already" Phoebe crossed her arms huffing in annoyance but kept scanning the horizon for anything suspicious.

Jake placed the book back into Finn's backpack before replying "All of the cyclopses tears are magic right? that means we don't have to search for the same one!" The magic dog continued with his walk and Phoebe followed closely behind him.

"Right, and we are keeping the head this time!" Phoebe exclaimed happily at the thought of having a powerful healing fountain ready for Finn at any time.

Jake scratched his head in confusion, not liking the way Phoebe's line of thought was going "Um, i don't think Finn would like that..."

Phoebe thought about it for a few more moments before letting out a sigh "Yea. Finn is too good for something like that. I guess a single bottle will have to do"

Before Jake could reply he felt a sharp stinging pain in one of his legs, quickly raising it to his face he realised he had stepped into a river.

"Ouch! what is it with that water? burns like acid or something..." Jake comment was ignored by the elemental as her flames brightened in excitement.

"That's it! the acid river Finn mentioned, come on jake we are getting close!" Phoebe quickly flew away while jake tried his best to catch up.

Leaving the river behind her Phoebe searched for the placed where the cyclops had been before, her flames left a trail behind her for jake to follow. A few moments later she saw a giant hole, as if a mountain had been ripped off the ground. Landing on top the destroyed hill she waited for her friend to catch up.

Once Jake arrived they started looking around for anything that might tell them where had the cyclops gone, Phoebe tried to remember the details of Finn's encounter with the cyclops...

 _...and then he punched me into the ground, but I tricked him and punched him in the eye! his tears fell on me and completely healed all of my wounds..._

Her eyes widened in realisation as she started looking more carefully at the ground near the giant hole, until she found a smaller one shaped like a giant fist. Calling out to Jake she made her way over to the crater.

"Phoebe? did you found something?" The magic dog questioned the elemental once he was close enough, Phoebe kept pointing excitedly at the crater next to her "This is the place Jake! Finn and the cyclops were here!" Jake walked in all fours to the crater keeping his nose glued to the ground as he looked for any traces that were left.

Phoebe waited, anxiously hoping there would still be some trace to be followed until Jake got back up and sniffed the air around them "Hmm my bro was here alright and there was something magical too" Phoebe let out a sigh of relief before she asked "Do you think you can follow the trace?" Jake hummed for a moment before he pointed in one direction.

"There!" He and Phoebe quickly moved towards one of the nearby mountains, The forest slowly started to thin out leaving only grass to be seen.

"Are we back at the grasslands?" Phoebe questioned the magic dog who keep moving as he tried to not lose the trail.

"No, we are still in the forest. But that's weird... why are there no trees here?" Jake suddenly stopped and started looking around "And the trail ends here too, just where is that cyclops?" Before Phoebe could comment the ground slowly started shaking as if and earthquake was happening. Both adventurers tried to stay on their feet as the ground slowly rose and cracked under the constant shaking.

Ending as quickly as it came both Phoebe and Jake found themselves surrounded by not one but four cyclopses who kept their eyes on them.

"They are here for our tears!" one of the cyclopses called out "Ha! these two chumps are nothing, let's just kill them" Before the two cyclopses could begin a third one punched both of them in the arms "Careful you idiots! the yellow thing has a fire elemental with him, kill that first" With that said the team of cyclopses prepared to attack.

To their surprise they found no one but them in the area "Damm it! how did they escape?" One of the cyclopses questioned but before the others could answer a giant yellow dog fell from the sky on top of two of the cyclopses, and used his arms to trap another one. The last cyclops stared in shock at his trapped brethren until he too was trapped but this time under a giant angry elemental.

"Give me your tears or i'll kill you!" Phoebe threatened the cyclops who growled back at her "Want my tears? come and get them!" The cyclops then spitted out a torrent of water out of his mouth that hit Phoebe right in her face, the pain of the water hitting her causing her to let go of the cyclops and step back covering her face.

"Phoebe, hold on! Jake trew the cyclops he was holding with his arms to the once that had hurt phoebe, the two giants slammed into each other with a loud crash.

Phoebe rubbed her face with her hands attempting to evaporate all the water that clung to her, her monstrous size shrinked slightly at the sudden moisture but she pushed on, preparing a giant fireball with one hand she launched it a the two cyclopses that struggled to get back up.

Once the fireball made contact it exploded into a fiery inferno that made jake glad there were no trees around to catch on fire, the two cyclopses screamed in pain as their wooden legs burned to ashes leaving them defenceless against the enraged elemental.

Phoebe picked one of the battered cyclops by the neck up to her "Had enough?" The cyclops seemed to lose its nerve against the duo once he saw his brothers captured and heard the screams of pain from the other "P-please dont hurt me anymore, just take them" It didn't take long before the magical tears slowly fell from its face.

Phoebe smiled and turned to look at jake "Alright, pass me the bottle jake" The magic dog pulled out the backpack with the bottle from somewhere inside of him "Ha ha, that wa-" A rocky fist suddenly smashed into Jake's face that threw him off balance as the other two cyclopses pushed him to the side. Phoebe could only watch as the backpack slowly fell to the ground and the sound of glass breaking reached her ears.

Once they were free one of the cyclopses jumped on top of Jake punching his face to little effect while Jake tried to fight back, the other one charged against Phoebe.

Her flames got bigger and brighter fueled by her rage, her fire body now towering over the cyclopses. She easily pushed away the one cyclops that charged at her with one hand "Fine! if you wont give them to me i'll just take your heads back!" Turning her attention back to the cyclops still in her hand Phoebe grabbed his head and pulled it off with ease, the rock body turning into rubble once it touched the ground.

The other cyclops looked horrified at the sight, Jake quickly took advantage of this. Kicking the cyclops off and using one of his arms like a rope to keeping in place, Phoebe reached to grab the half charred cyclops and repeat the process once more.

"U-uh, Phoebe? we don't really need more than one head..." Jake tried to remind the elemental about their mission but she didn't seem to hear or care about it, Phoebe finished with the second cyclops and quickly pounced on top of another one that tried to get away from the enraged girl.

"C-come on man, just let me go!" you already have more than you need" The last cyclops pleaded and Jake couldn't help but to feel bad about the poor thing "Im sorry man... but at this point I think she's just venting, its been a pretty crazy week for her y'know?" Phoebe finished with the other cyclops and threw the head close to the others but didn't move from her spot.

Both Jake and the cyclops let out a sigh of relief once Phoebe slowly shrinked back to her normal size, Jake let go of the cyclops watching as he ran away for his life.

Shrinking back to his normal size too Jake slowly approached Phoebe, her hands on her hips as she stared down at the pile of rubble that once made up the body of a cyclops. Neither of them said anything for a while until Phoebe finally spoke "Im sorry jake, I flipped out again" But Jake simply patted her on the shoulder "Its cool, it looks like you, uh, needed that one" Both of them looked around to the now half burned half destroyed meadow.

"Come on, let just bring those heads back. Finn's waiting for us" Phoebe started to walk towards the disembodied heads that cowered at the sight of her "please no more! just take the tears and go!" The tree heads pleaded as Phoebe let out a tired sigh "If you had just said so since the beginning none of this would have happened, too late for that anyway." Jake placed the heads on his back making sure they wouldn't fall off.

"Oh! before we leave, can you get the backpack Phoebe? its probably somewhere around here..."

Phoebe looked around the meadow and let out a sigh "...great"

 **BREAK**

Back at the candy kingdom, Princess Bubblegum had only left the room Finn was staying in to sleep, only leaving if it was absolutely necessary. Despite the fact that Finn had medical care by the best doctors in the kingdom she couldn't help but to worry every time she wasn't there for him, no matter how many times the logical part of her brain reminded her that it was all taken care of.

She brushed the golden locks of hair that for whatever reason always seemed to fall on his face and after making sure his bandages were properly taken care of she took a seat beside him once more.

"Thanks for watching out for me princess" The tired adventurer said with his eyes still closed.

PB cheeks went red with embarrassment at the sudden revelation "F-finn? you were awake?" Finn opened his eyes to look at PB "Oh, Princess bubblegum? i thought it was doctor princess..." PB felt a little hurt but covered it up "I'm technically a scientist but i also have medical training you know?" Realising his mistake Finn quickly apologised.

"Im sorry, I didn't mean it like that princess-" His apology was cut short as he felt a finger against his lips "I know you didn't Finn, its okay" Her hand moved to his head as she started twirling his hair between her fingers.

A few moments passed while Finn enjoyed the sensation of the caresses he was receiving "Any news about Jake and Phoebe?" PB pursed her lips at the sudden question "No Finn... not since they were here last time" Finn closed his eyes once more after hearing the answer.

He had to admit that he felt a little hurt that Phoebe had not come to visit him while he was recovering, while he was glad that she went looking for the cyclops magic tears he had hoped to talk about their relationship. She liked him and he kissed her... did that mean they were a couple now? was she angry at him for the kiss? it was likely, given that it almost killed them both.

The human hero let out a tired sigh as he let his thoughts wander, PB could see his worried frown and keep caresing his head in an attempt to calm him "Don't worry Finn, im sure they will come back soon" Finn was reminded that bubblegum was there and decided that if there was anyone with answers it would be her "I know that, im more worried about... me and Phoebe" PB stopped her caresses for a moment before continuing "Oh, well, what is it that worries you Finn?" Finn pondered the question for a moment.

"Do you think she likes me... like i like her?" PB giggled a little at his question "You freed her from her lamp and after you kissed her she went to search for the only thing that would leave you good as new, I think liking doesn't really match what she feels for you" PB tried to ignore the pit on her chest after she said that, Finn didn't seem to notice as a goofy smile appeared on his face.

"R-really? then... do you think I might have a chance with her?" Bubblegum placed her hands on her lap and bit her lip as she tried to hide the way the conversation was affecting her. She had know for a long time about the crush the human boy had for her, the way he looked at her, the way his voice always had a dreamy tone to it if she was talking to him... very much like the way it sounded now that he talked about the princess of the flame kingdom.

"Princess?" Finn's voice pulled her back to reality as he stared at her with a confused expression on his face "O-oh yes, uh, you two would be really good... together" Finn seemed unconvinced at her answer "Are you sure? I know its dangerous to kiss but dont worry princess, i'll find a way to fix her matrix thingy once im healed up!" PB smiled at Finn's determination and placed a kiss on his cheek "I know you will Finn".

The kiss seemed to have the desired effect as the human's face turned completely red "Uh, p-princess?" PB giggled at his reaction as she got up from her seat "Oh, my bad... I have to take care of some things now Finn, i'll come back soon okay? The red faced human nodded not trusting his voice for the moment.

Bubblegum walked out the door and through the hallways of the castle hospital with a smile on her face, the reactions Finn provided was prove enough that the crush he harbored for her was still there in a way. And maybe, just maybe... she could make things work on her favor.

 **BREAK**

Phoebe and Jake arrived at the tree house just before sunset, tired from the travels and the fightings that ensued. Jake dropped the heads at the front of the house as he laid down on his back on the floor.

"Ahh... im getting old" Phoebe landed near the magic dog and took a seat next to him "Come on jake, we are almost there!" Sadly he didn't seem to share her energy as he made no move to get off the floor "I know... just give me a moment" Phoebe huffed in annoyance and waited a few moments until an idea popped into her head.

Phoebe picked up one of the surprisingly light heads and held it directly on top of jake "Could you cry a little? The cyclops head hummed in agreement and let a few tears fall on the magic dog. The tears acted immediately as Jake felt the weariness disappear "Woo! alright, im ready to go" Jake placed the heads on his back again as he set out to the Candy Kingdom at full speed.

Phoebe took off in the same direction going as fast as she could, her core trembling with excitement as her thoughts filled with images of the boy that waited for her back at the hospital. It had been a few days since she and Jake set out to find the cyclops and in all that time she had not gone to see how Finn was doing, part of it was because she didn't want to see the boy in such a state but she knew that was just an excuse. The kiss they shared made it hard for her to see him again, she had time to think things over in the past couple of days and she came to an unsurprising conclusion, she liked it.

Sadly this also meant that her mind filled with questions, what if he didnt like her back? he had been so kind to her but she left him wounded and hospitalised for days, she hadn't even gone along with Jake everytime he went to check on his brother.

The sight of the Candy Kingdom gates getting closer made her feel like there was a hole in her stomach, but she refused to back down. Steeling herself for whatever came next she landed just outside the walls with Jake at her side.

"Ah, feels good to finally bring some good news" The magic dog commented as he carried the heads inside the kingdom, the sweet citizens not minding in the least the presence of the heads or the elemental in their kingdom.

They found Princess Bubblegum waiting for them as they entered the castle "Hey guys, did you... find them?" PB looked confused at the sight of the three heads Jake carried on his arms "Yep we did! take a look princess" Jake moved one of the heads closer to the princess for her to examine.

PB would have though the cyclops to be dead if the head didn't look around curiously at his surroundings "Ooookay, why did you bring so many heads then?" Jake laughed nervously at the question "Well... you see, we found more than one cyclops and they kinda broke the bottle we had so we had to bring the heads back because their bodies were... destroyed in the fight".

The way the heads seemed to shrink under the Flame princess gaze told PB everything she needed to know "Oh... well, im glad you guys are back anyway".

"If you are done, can we go see Finn already?" Phoebe asked, her face showed no emotion as she looked at PB "Sure, just follow me" PB walked in front of the adventurers hoping to hide her expression. She had hoped the fire elemental would warm up to her after a couple of days but she seemed to distrust her even now, while she was not directly in control of the Fire kingdom having her as an ally could prove useful in the future once she took over her rightful place as a queen.

The walk to the room Finn was in was short, as usual the princess went inside first, followed shortly after by Jake but Phoebe stayed outside trying to calm her nerves, after taking a deep breath she stepped into the room.

Her eyes immediately locked with Finn's, the two of them staring at each other as if it had been years since they last met. Phoebe walked over to the side of the bed as the human boy gave her a bright smile "Phoebe, you found it...them" Finn corrected himself as he saw the extra heads outside the room, Phoebe giggled as she quickly placed her hand on Finn's cheek "Its a long story, i can tell you all about it back home though".

Before Finn could reply Jake placed the head over him "Alright bro! here come the heals" Tapping the eye lightly with one of his hands the tears of the cyclops slowly spilled on top of Finn soaking him from head to toe.

The effects once again started immediately as Finn was filled with energy and the pain on his body disappeared, jumping out of the bed he landed with ease on the candy floor and quickly removed the bandages, the brown leather like skin went back to his normal color until it suddenly stopped. His arms and torso still had some light markings on them, Jake tried once more with more tears this time to no effect.

"I guess they don't do much against scars uh..." Jake commented but Finn didn't seem to be bothered at all "I don't really mind, besides don't i look a lot cooler now?" Finn strike a pose that made both red faced princesses turn their eyes away of sight of the shirlest boy in the room.

Placing the head back on the floor Jake pulled Finn into a bone crushing hug "I missed you man, glad to had you back" Finn returned the hug back in full force "I missed you too bro" The two of them separated and Jake pushed finn closer to the fire elemental in the room.

Phoebe kept her eyes glued to the floor as she waited for whatever Finn would say to her, to her surprise instead of words she received a hug that lifted her off the floor "I missed you too Phoebe..." Her core trembled at his words and her arms wrapped themselves around his neck pulling him closer to her "I missed you too".

Jake and Bubblegum stared at the scene from the doorway, Jake seemed happy if a little annoyed at his brother's carelessness while PB pursed her lips in thought.

Reluctantly letting go Finn and Phoebe stared into each other's eyes for a moment, Phoebe slowly moved her face closer to Finn's and placed a loving kiss on his cheek "Maybe not as good... but i'll take what i can get" Finn immediately kissed her back on her cheek too "I know... we'll have to work on that".

The two red faced lovers slowly made their way out of the room trailing behind Jake and PB. As they walked holding hands Finn's eyes widened in realisation "Your not as hot as usual, are you okay?" Phoebe giggled before replying "Its not much but i have been practicing on my spare time, now you wont get so hurt if we spend to much time together".

The rest of the walk was silent and thankfully painless.

 **BREAK**

Once outside the castle the trio were getting ready to go back home with the princess there to see them off.

"Are you sure you want us to leave the heads here princess?" Jake questioned but PB simply nodded "Of course, that way I can investigate what is it that gives the tears their healing properties" Some of the banana guards had already moved the heads back to her lab at her command so the magic dog simply shrugged "Well, if you say so, oh, this should help too" Jake quickly searched the backpack for a moment.

"Here PB" PB looked surprised as the magic dog handed her the enchiridion "The book of the hero? why are you giving me this Jake?" Finn answered before Jake could "It has lots of information about the cyclopses princess! that's how i found them in the first place" Nodding in understanding she tucked the book under her arm.

"Well okay, but be sure to come and get it some time soon, this book is supposed to be in the possession of the greatest heroes of the time" Both adventurers nodded "Sure PB we'll come and get it sometime soon".

"Come on guys, let go home. I'm tired..." Phoebe called out, her energies spent after a day of adventuring with Jake.

"Oh, sure Phoebe. Come on jake!" The half dressed human climbed on top of Jake as he grew in size.

Phoebe flew off in direction of the three house followed closely by Finn and Jake, leaving behind PB as she watched them get smaller over the horizon. Slowly making her way back into the castle she prepared to set her plan in motion, as much as she wished to make everyone happy she knew better than that.

After all, responsibility demands sacrifice.

AN: late, short, rushed? update. Busy week coming up with exams and work but i managed to get this one out, Hope you all enjoy!

Deathclaw2010: Sorry about that, sometimes stuff like that just slips from my mind. I'll try to keep things more tidy from now on.


	8. Dating start!

Finn woke up late thanks to his sleep schedule having been messed up in the past few days. Slowly getting out of bed he changed into a clean set of clothes before walking over to the ladder and climbing down, the house was mostly silent with the only noise coming from the living room.

He walked into the room to find Phoebe, BMO and Neptr in conversation. Noticing the boy entering the room out of the corner of her eye Phoebe waved him over, Finn smiled as he walked over to his friends. He had to admit that the sight of Phoebe waiting for him every morning was something he could get used to.

"How are you feeling Finn?" Phoebe asked as he took a seat next to her "I'm feeling great! those tears really patched me up" Closing the distance between them Phoebe placed her head on the crook of his neck and gently grabbed one of his hands "Good but you better don't go getting hurt like that gain... I was really worried".

Finn could tell that whatever training Phoebe had been doing in the past few days was working, while she was still hot the usual sizzling of skin burning was gone and only the sensation of her skin being way too hot remained, not the most confortable feeling but he would take what he could get.

BMO suddenly jumped on top of Finn and wrapped his tiny arms around the free arm of the human's body "BMO missed you too Finn!" Before Finn could reply another metallic arm touched his legs "Neptr is glad you didnt die creator".

Biting his lip to stop the tears that threatened to fall Finn suddenly lifted with ease the three of them into a big hug "Jeez, I missed you guys a lot too, let's celebrate!" Placing them back on the floor, Finn quickly walked over to the fridge and looked around for a few treats.

Pulling out a few leftover Finn cakes he gave one to everyone "Yay! Finn cakes" "I will treasure this forever creator" BMO and Neptr cheered while phoebe looked curiously at the pastry.

It was a cupcake with a blue wrapping and the face of Finn on the top, it had a sweet chocolate smell and despite being refrigerated it felt pretty soft in her hand. Phoebe had not tried to eat "normal" stuff since the incident with the eggs Jake had made but she had been thinking about a different way to go about it.

She lifted the cupcake to her and slowly pushed it towards her cheek, the fire burned away the wrapping and the rest seemed to dissolve rather than burn. Closing her eyes Phoebe focused on the feeling, the bread was very soft and she could also taste the chocolate and the sweet icing it had on the top.

Letting out a satisfied sigh Phoebe opened her eyes to see Finn staring at her with a half eaten cupcake in his hand "Um, did you... like it?" Phoebe giggled at his reaction before replying "Yes, it was very good".

Finn smiled at her and finished his own cupcake, Phoebe looked over to the robots to see BMO with his face covered in bits and pieces of bread and icing while Neptr had somehow placed his cupcake inside himself.

"Oh by the way, where is Jake? he wasn't in the room" Finn asked and Phoebe suddenly remembered "Oh, sorry I forgot to tell you, Jake said that he was going on a date with lady rainicorn today" Finn nodded and relaxed back on the couch.

"Well, guess we have the day for ourselves then..." Finn suddenly went quiet as Phoebe snuggled next to him "Yea I guess" She missed the way Finn's cheeks turned red as he prepared to speak.

"Say... would you like t-" Finn was interrupted by a sudden knock on the door, letting out a frustrated sigh he prepared to get up before a warm hand pushed him back down "Dont worry, i'll get it" Phoebe flew over the table and made her downstairs and towards the door.

Whoever was outside knocked again and Phoebe quickly opened the door "Yes? who is..." Her mouth snaped shut and she cringed at the sight. A weird looking thing floated in the air in front of the house, wearing a plastic bag in a way that resembled a dress with strawberry jam on her lips.

"Hello Finn- hey! who are you?! why are you here?!" Apparently not being who she expected the thing screamed as she pointed a finger at her, Phoebe frowned in annoyance as she replied "My name is Phoebe and I live here, who or what are you?" Her response only seemed to anger the thing even more.

"What?! you live here?! this cant be... my lumps are the best in all of Ooo, how did a girl like you manage you get him first?!" Having had enough of the thing's attitude Phoebe let her flames grow fueled by her anger "Thats none of your business, now get lost!" Slamming the door shut Phoebe took a moment to calm down until the thing started pounding the door from the outside.

Finn jumped down the ladder after hearing screams coming from the entrance with his demon blood sword ready only to find a very angry Phoebe holding the door in place.

"Phoebe? what's going on? who is out there?" Finn asked as he walked closer to look through the small window in the door "I don't know, some weird thing that got angry I was here" She was surprised when Finn gently pulled her back from the door "Oh it just LSP, i'll get it" Completely oblivious to the earlier discussion Finn opened the door once more.

"Take this and that, you little homewrecker!" LSP punched Finn in the chest not realising it was him just yet "Um, LSP? could you maybe stop?" Finn gently pushed the lumpy princess away from him, until she jumped forward once more except this time she wrapped her arms around his neck "Oh Finn, I knew you would change your mind. No other girl can match these lumps!".

Finn could hear Phoebe growling in anger and decided to stop before things got out of hand, pushing away LSP he grabbed her by the shoulders to keep her in place "Okay LSP, why are you here? did you need something?" LSP stopped trying to escape his hold as she remembered why she came in the first place.

"O-oh right, well I saw your ad and i came for the job" Finn raised an eyebrow in confusion "Ad? job?" LSP searched her purse for a moment and pulled out a piece of wood with what smelled like pie custard smeared on it.

"Ahhhh glob this!" LSP smashed the now ruined fake ad and let out a frustrated sigh "Look Finn I came here to seduce you with my lumps and prove even a white knight like you cant resist the charms of a woman and then make a book about it. But it seems you are not as pure as I thought! how many other girls you have in there uh?" Finn turned red at the implications.

"No, no, no! its not like that LSP" despite his protest LSP didn't seem convinced "Oh yea? then why is she living here or is it just a one night stand?" LSP pointed at Phoebe who walked over to the pair and wrapped her arms around Finn's "If you must know, im his girlfriend and he invited me to live with him".

LSP was silent for a few moments until suddenly she pushed the couple back inside and closed the door behind her "O M G you two are a thing?! OMG OMG girl you have to tell me all about it! How long? how was your first kiss? what about the first date?!" Both Finn and Phoebe were shocked at the sudden change of the lumpy princess as she kept asking questions.

"-together? what about the wedding? how many kids are you going to have?" Not wanting to hear more embarrassing questions Phoebe slaped her hand on top of the princess mouth cringing a little as the jam hurt her palm "Okay, stop. If I answer your questions will you leave?" LSP nodded and Phoebe reluctantly pulled her towards the living room.

Finn watched the two princesses disappear into the room and leaned back into the door, It looked like his day would be anything but calm he thought as he slowly made his way back up with the ladies.

 **BREAK**

"...which lead us here, to this very moment" Phoebe finished with a sigh after being asked every single detail of her relationship with Finn, to her credit LSP had only interrupted to ask questions but was otherwise completely silent and attentive at every word she said. Having finished tell her story the room fell completely silent as LSP's face scrunched up in concentration.

Having apparently reached a conclusion LSP got off the couch and grabbed both Phoebe's hands "Girl I can not believe that Finn would be such a bad boyfriend but don't worry, i will fix your relationship. Im more than just some pretty lumps y'know?" Pulling her off the couch Phoebe was dragged into the bathroom by LSP. Finn could only watch in confusion as the two girls walked in and closed the door behind them.

He went back to the game he was playing in BMO but couldn't ignore the question at the back of his mind "BMO... am I a bad boyfriend?" The little robot quited the game to look back at the human "Of course not Finn, BMO thinks you are the best boyfriend!" Despite the encouragement Finn couldn't help but to think about it.

He and Phoebe had not been together for long and now they were a couple, was that too fast? but if she liked him and he liked her why would they wait? they already had their first kiss... even though it almost killed them, should he had asked her out on a date sooner? where would they go? what was one supposed to in a date anyway?. Letting out a sigh and rubbing the sides of his head Finn wished he had asked for more details about relationships to jake, all he knew were the steps in a relationship but not how to climb those steps.

The door to the bathroom suddenly opened and LSP came out quickly closing it behind her, moving closer to Finn she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards his room.

"Uh, LSP? where are we going? where is Phoebe?" LSP stopped pulling him and squished his cheeks with her hands "Im going to give you a full makeover Finn! We cant have you dressed in those rags if you are going out with Phoebe" She looked at his clothes with a disgusted face.

"Bush diss is wut i always guear" Finn replied or tried to with his face squished, letting go of his face LSP grabbed his hand once more and kept pulling him towards the ladder "I know Finn! that's why you cant wear the same old stuff, you have to show you care!".

The duo slowly made their way upstairs mostly because LSP refused to let Finn go, making it harder for the boy to climb the ladder.

While LSP made sure Finn was presentable Phoebe looked at herself in the mirror making sure her new "Look" as LSP had called it was fine. Following LSP instructions the long hair that burned high making her look taller now rested in little curls around her neck, her royal dress had also been changed much to her discomfort. The long dress now reached her knees leaving her usually covered legs exposed.  
 **(AN:Terrible description, just remember the way FP looked in the "Vault Of Bones" episode)**

Phoebe wasn't sure how was this supposed to make things better, Finn liked what she always wore and she liked his everyday clothes too. Taking a seat on the toilet she waited until LSP came back with whatever the "surprise" was, part of her wondered why was she going along with the annoying princess ideas. She had expected to spend the day playing video games or going exploring with Finn but now she felt she was being used as a doll to play dress up.

Having enough of waiting in the bathroom she unlocked the door and stepped outside, the living room was empty except for muffled voices upstairs and BMO who was apparently asleep on the table. As she made her way to the ladder the voices suddenly started to get louder.

"Fine! you can keep the hat, now come on" Phoebe stopped and crossed her arms as she waited for LSP to get all the way down. Her frown disappeared immediately as she caught sight of Finn, he was dressed in a black tuxedo with blue lapels, black gloves and black dress shoes.  
 **(Finn's attire in the "The Creeps" episode)**

Finn's mouth fell open as he looked at her from head to toe, Phoebe's cheeks turned red suddenly feeling self conscious. Thankfully it didn't last long before LSP pushed Finn forward "There we go! that looks a lot better don't you think so?" LSP said as she praised her own work for a moment.

"Fine, you were right, but now what?" Phoebe asked the lumpy princess who let out an annoyed sigh "Jeez! you guys are clueless, now you go on a date" LSP said picking up Finn's backpack and throwing it at him.

The couple reluctantly made their way towards the door and left the house hearing the door lock behind them "And don't return until you had a good time together!" LSP said from the inside as she locked the door.

Finn and Phoebe stood around in silence for a moment, neither of them were sure what were they supposed to do next.

"Well, guess we are going on a date now" Phoebe commented as Finn finished checking the contents of the backpack "Yea but at least we are well prepared, we have our swords, candles, some spaghetti..." Nodding to himself Finn hung the backpack over his shoulders.

"Do you want to go for a walk or maybe fight some monsters with me?" Finn asked with his hand extended towards Phoebe, She grabbed his hand a quickly pulled him forward "Of course I do!" Finn struggled to keep with the exited girl as they made their way towards the Forest.

Neither of them noticed one of the windows of the tree house open and LSP slowly float out of it, armed with a pen and lots of paper she quietly followed the couple from a distance.

 **BREAK**

After a walking for a while the couple had their swords at ready, destroying any evil monsters they came across during their walk. To make things interesting Finn had decided that the one who got more would get a price.

"And just what is this price?" Phoebe asked after destroying another skeleton warrior that tried to attacked her "Anything you want! if you win I will do anything you ask and make it happen" Finn exclaimed as he raised his sword high up in the air.

Phoebe's smile faltered for a moment as she thought about what she would ask if she did won "Anything i want uh?..." She mumbled under her breath as Finn pulled her forward.

"Come on Feebs, maybe we'll find some evil mage or something cool like that" Finn said as he walked ahead with his hand still holding hers, Phoebe let out a sigh and pushed those thoughts at the back of her mind, she would worry about stuff like that some other time.

A sudden rustling of leaves behind them caught her attention, Phoebe kept walking but made sure to keep her enchanted sword ready for anything. It wasn't long before another rustling sounded except this time it was closer than before, Finn didn't seem to notice and instead keep his eyes focused on the path ahead.

"Finn" Phoebe quietly called out to the human boy not wanting to alert whatever was following them "Hm?" Finn replied still completely oblivious to the posible danger. Phoebe suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck and moved their faces closer, Finn turned red at the sudden action but didnt pull back.

As their faces came closer Finn closed his eyes and pursed his lips but was confused when he felt a finger on top of his lips, he opened his eyes to look at the red faced elemental "N-not that you dummy, I mean... ugh- maybe later, right now there is something following us. See the bushes behind us?" Finn looked around behind them and saw a few bushes big enough for someone to hide in.

"I see them, should we rush them?" Finn asked and Phoebe nodded in return, they separated and pretended to keep walking forward for a moment. Once the rustling of leaves sounded the adventurers jumped on top of the bush ready for a fight, to the surprise the only thing they found was a brown bear that quietly stared at them.

"Oh, it just a bear Phoebe, nothing to worry about" Finn walked closer and patted the bear on the head motioning at Phoebe to do the same but she did not move from her spot or lower her sword.

"Finn. Get away from that thing." Phoebe was not buying the whole innocent animal act, she could feel the foul magic aura that clung to the animal, the mere feeling of it was almost enough to make her barf. Finn didn't seem to notice that as he tried to calm her down "Its okay, he's not going to hurt us" He walked closer and Phoebe's eyes widened as she saw the bear mimicking Finn's actions.

"Look! he's imitating you!" Finn turned around to see the bear walking in two legs and placing is paws in front of his chest in a nonthreatening manner just like him, Finn waved his arms around surprised to see the bear doing the same thing "Uh... maybe he likes me?" The bear attempted to speak too but only unintelligible noises came out of his mouth.

"Like you? no Finn, this thing is evil. Let's just kill it already" Phoebe walked forward with her sword ready to strike but Finn stepped in between her and the animal "This is not like you Phoebe, let's just leave him here and keep going on our date okay?" Phoebe wanted to push the issue but the way Finn pleaded kept her from doing so.

"Fine... lets just go, I don't want to around that anymore" Grabbing his hand Phoebe pulled Finn back the path and walked quickly hoping to leave the bear behind "You kinda flipped back there Feebs, are you okay?" Finn asked once they were far away from the animal.

Letting out a sigh Phoebe placed her hands on her hips "That thing was evil Finn, I could feel the magic on it, evil magic." Finn nodded and pondered the matter for a moment before he reached a conclusion "The bear fought an evil wizard! that has to be how he got the magic over him, because bears aren't magic you know?" Phoebe wondered if that had been the case, if the bear had been in a fight with an evil wizard it would make sense for him to have remnants of evil magic on him, but why would an evil wizard attack and innocent bear?.

While not fully convinced Phoebe agreed with Finn "Okay... maybe I was wrong, if we ever see the bear again I will apologise" Her response seemed to put the hero at ease as he smiled brightly at her "Thats the spirit!.

With renewed enthusiasm the couple moved on with their date, once out of sight the bear quickly rolled around in the forest ground trying to get rid of master's magic aura. Once certain he smelled more like natural magic he quickly moved on not wanting to lose sight of the hero that carried the enchiridion.

Now alone LSP dropped down from the tree top she was in, placing a few of the finished pages on her purse she quickly wrote her story as she followed the trio, Turtle princess would be in for a surprise once she was done with her new book!.

 **BREAK**

After a while of walking Finn remembered why he never wore the old tuxedo again, it was tight and not confortable for adventuring at all. Phoebe seemed to notice his discomfort despite his attempts to hide it "We can take a break if you want Finn, this clearing seems nice enough" Finn nodded and immediately took a seat in a tree stump nearby letting out a sigh of relief.

Phoebe took a moment to look around while Finn rested, there was a small stream of water on the side and plenty of tree stumps around. Not having anything better to do se picked up any small branches she found and placed them all together, puting her hand inside she lit the branches on fire and took a seat next to it.

Finn moved closer and placed a red and white cloth he had in his backpack on the floor, along with a candle and two plates. He motioned Phoebe to move closer and pulled out a bag filled with spaghetti.

"LSP said we should have a romantic dinner so... is this okay?" Finn gave a nervous smile and Phoebe just giggled in return "Its fine, even though its not even night yet and I cant eat that" Finn's eyes widened as he remembered "Dang, I dont think LSP placed coal inside... I can go find something for you if you want?" Phoebe shaked her head and leaned in to kiss the human's cheek.

"Its fine, im not hungry anyway. Here, let me help you with that" Taking the spaghetti filled bag she emptied it on top of the plate and picked it up, making sure to not make it too hot she placed back a steaming plate of spaghetti in front of Finn "There, you don't have to eat it cold now".

Finn used his fork to take a bite and nodded to himself "Its delicious! you're the best Phoebe!" She turned red at the praise as she played with a stick on the dirt "I just warmed it up, its nothing".

The small fire Phoebe had made slowly went out as the wood ran out, Finn moved closer to Phoebe until their shoulders were touching. Before they could get confortable a rusting of leaves caught their attention once more but this time the bear made no attempt to hide.

"Aw he must be hungry too, here little guy" Finn got up and placed a little bit of spaghetti in front of the bear, to their surprise the bear picked up a stick and tried to eat the same way Finn did.

While Finn was enjoying the company of the sudden visitor Phoebe keep her eyes on the animal, the previous aura of magic was almost gone and she wondered if Finn had been right about the bear before. Walking over to the animal Phoebe tried to pet it only for the bear to slap her hand away.

Finn was not going to let that slide "Not cool man, one does not hurt girls much less princesses" The human slaped the makeshift fork out of the bear's paw, the bear looked at the two and having blown his cover twice already decided to take action.

Suddenly jumping on top of Finn the bear ran towards the backpack left in the tree stump and picked it up in his mouth as he ran away. After helping Finn back up to his feet Phoebe picked their swords off the floor and handed Finn his "Come on, let get him!" Before Finn could reply she grabbed his hand and took off into the air.

Finn held on as best he could with one hand as Phoebe sped up towards the bear "There!" Finn shouted and pointed with his sword as he saw the bear runing away as fast as it could, Getting closer to the ground Finn prepared to let go "Im ready Phoebe, get me closer" Flying directly on top of the animal Phoebe let go off Finn as he fell on top of the bear.

Rolling around in the ground after the sudden crash Phoebe quickly landed and picked up the backpack on her arms while the bear regained his footing, Finn jumped back to his feet and moved between Phoebe and the bear with his sword ready "What's your problem? just leave us alone man" Finn was surprised to see the bear desperate as if his life depended on the contents of his backpack.

"en-encho-enchidion" Both adventurers stared in surprise as the bear suddenly spoke to them "P-ples giv encidion" Despite his poor wording Phoebe understood immediately "The enchiridion? why would a bear want that?" Finn seemed as confused as her, slowly lowering his sword Finn wondered what could the enchiridion do for the bear.

"H-hero! hero book!" The bear continued pointing at himself "W-want be hero!" Finn's eyes widened in realisation "Phoebe, I think he wants to be a hero..." Phoebe scoffed at the idea after everything that the animal had done "Well he can keep dreaming because he's not going to be a hero doing stuff like this, besides we don't have it anymore".

Finn walked closer to the bear and placed is hand on his shoulder "Look man, being a hero is not something you can just learn by reading a book and to be honest? you are being a butt right now. Go out there and help people in need, with enough dedication you too can be a hero like me and Phoebe!" The animal stared at the Human for a few moments before getting up and walking away.

The duo watched the bear make his way towards the mountains in silence, once out of sight Finn walked over to Phoebe and took is backpack off her hands " That ended well don't you think so?" Phoebe punched Finn in the arm as they walked back together "I told you he was evil but he's gone now so whatevs" Finn laughed before replying "Yea that's kinda true, guess that means you won"

Phoebe looked at him in confusion "Won what?" Finn took her hands and looked at her straight in the eyes "I didnt even realise that bear was evil, so that means you win! now ask me anything you want and I will make it happen".

Despite knowing better than to believe him Phoebe couldn't help to wonder what did she want more than anything... smiling at Finn she decided what she really wanted "I want to kiss you right now you know?" Finn turned red at the sudden confession "I-i want to kiss you too, but you know what will happen if we do" Phoebe placed one of her hands on his cheek before she replied "I know and it sucks, so I want you fix me... can you do that?".

Finn was silent for a moment before answering "I swear on my life I will find a way to fix your thingy princess!" Phoebe quickly covered his mouth as her cheeks went red "Jeez! don't say it like that, its embarrassing!".

Finn laughed at her embarrassment before replying "Sorry Feebs, but don't worry I know who can help us!" Phoebe felt a little excited at the prospect of being in control of her fire core so quickly "Really? but who can help us? you said PB was the smartest in all of Ooo and she couldn't fix me..." Finn grabbed her hands and pulled her in direction of the ice kingdom.

"I know a mage that could help us, but its not someone I thought I would ever ask for help again" Placing his sword back in to his backpack Finn prepared to take off once more "Think you can fly us there? it will be faster like that" Phoebe nodded and placed her own sword in the backpack, after grabbing Finn with both hands the couple took off towards the Ice King's domain.

"Wait! guys wait for me!" Jumping out of the bushes LSP called out to them to no effect, groaning in annoyance she slowly floated over to the Turtle princess library hoping to come up with a good excuse on the way.

 **BREAK**

The bear slowly made his way towards the nearby mountain, every step filled him with dread as he got closer to the base the mountain. Carefully climbing upwards, he tried to keep his nerves in control. After a while of climbing the wind got stronger and the ground got further and further away, this only helped to making him more fearful of what was to come.

Reaching the entrance to a cave high up the mountain the bear timidly called out to his master.

The foul entity replied from the inside of the cavern, as if he had known he was there al along **"Do you have the book?"** There was complete silence for a moment as the animal's voice failed him, not daring to speak of his failure.

A displeased grunt echoed throughout the cave and suddenly a giant ball of green fire appeared moving fast towards the bear. With his legs frozen in fear he could only watch as the fireball got closer and closer until it hit him. The fire burned without mercy as it engulfed his entire body, fur and skin burned in seconds with the only noise that sounded high in the mountains being the poor animal's screams of pain.

Another fireball closed in on the animal, this one more solid than the last one and pushing the bear off the edge of the cliff. The creams only stopped once the bear reached the floor and were shortly replaced by a wet crunch as blood splattered into the nearby trees and his bones broke.

The lich observed from above at the charred animal's corpse with no emotion in his hollow eye sockets **"Disappointing"** With his plan now ruined he moved back inside the cave as he prepared for a more direct approach.

 **BREAK**

Phoebe flew as fast as she could not wanting to spend more time than necessary in the cold winds of the Ice Kingdom, letting out a relieved sigh once she saw the mountain with a face in the distance "There it is!" Finn pointed out as they got closer to the Ice King's home.

Flying through the mouth of the mountain Phoebe let go of Finn as she keep flying in the air "Not coming down?" Finn asked once he saw her still flying "I don't think the ice floor is going to hold if I walk on it for too long".

Not wanting to spend more time here than necessary Finn looked around for the Ice King, he wasn't in room as far as he could see and thankfully the cage he kept princesses in was empty. Finn pulled out his sword before moving deeper into the house "I'm going in Phoebe, do you think you can follow me?" Phoebe nodded and made sure she didn't touch anything in the ice home.

Leaving the room and walking along the hallway Finn wondered were he could find the Ice King, he stopped moving for a moment listened for any sounds. Only Phoebe's flames moving around could be heard at first but then a giggle came from one of the nearby rooms.

Motioning towards the room Finn and Phoebe moved close to the door, the giggles now more obvious now that hey were closer "Let me handle this, Simon is not the smartest but he could hurt you with his ice magic" Phoebe reluctantly nodded as Finn opened the door slowly.

Being in what looked like a bedroom was the Ice King with his face buried in a book with a hand drawn cover that said:

 _Fionna_ _ & Cake_

 _Meet_

 _Finn & Jake_

Trying to ignore the fact that the Ice King was writing fanfiction about him Finn walked up to him and shaked him out off his daydreaming "Hey simon, I need your help" The Ice King seemed more annoyed than anything else at the hero's presence in his own house.

"What now? I haven't kidnaped any princesses yet" looking over to the human his eyes widened in surprise when he saw the princess behind him "Oh my glob! Finn, you brought the Flame princess to me? how kind of you" Jumping out off bed IK hugged Finn even as he struggled to get away.

"Let go of me man! I didn't bring her here for you, we need your help" Letting go off Finn the IK took a seat on his bed "Of course I will help you, friends help each other right?" Taking the opportunity Phoebe flew closer to the two of them "Yea friends help each other and because we are friends you have to help us keep my elemental matrix in check" Nodding to himself the IK walked over to a the door and motioned the couple to follow him.

Phoebe flew close to Finn as they walked through the hallway "I thought this would be harder" Finn nodded in agreement and whispered back "I know, but its kinda hard to tell with him sometimes, crown makes him crazy or something".

Having reached the room he was looking for IK entered with Finn and Phoebe behind him, The room looked an old storage with plenty of boxes filled to the brim with old pre war and magic items.

"Now let's see here..." IK searched one of the boxes with many pieces of jewelry, Finn looked over his shoulder watching discard various pieces "What are we looking for IK?" Switching to another box the IK replied "Two necklaces with a blue tear that is imbued with magic ice essence, but I don't really remember where i left them..." Finn looked around at the docens of boxed and sighed "Fine, i'll help you look" Grabbing one box for himself Finn started searching for anything similar to what the IK had described.

Phoebe wanted to help but the amount of magic items in the room dizzied her senses for a moment, closing her eyes and focusing on the magic auras in the room she felt her core beating for a moment. She opened her eyes to find Finn and IK looking at her with surprised expressions "Phoebe, you okay? what was that?" "You better not melt my home missy" Without replying Phoebe moved over to one of the boxes in far back of the room and pulled out the two necklaces from it.

Finn walked over to her while the IK took the necklaces off her hands "What happened? you let out this... wave of energy or something and then you just found them?" Phoebe tried to do so once more this time with her eyes open, focusing on finding Finn she saw how an orange wave of energy left her body as it moved away in every direction.

"I don't know what that is... but its pretty useful dont you think?" Seeing how it was not hurting Phoebe, Finn smiled brightly at her "Yea it is pretty cool and now we have the necklaces too!" Finn turned around to find the IK inspecting the necklaces "Hmm, yes! the enchantment is still good" After making sure they still worked IK handed Finn and Phoebe one necklace each.

"Now just put them own and tada! they will adjust to your needs! all done" With the search out of the way the IK pulled out a tabletop game from one of the boxes "Now... how about we play a game together as friends you guys?" Finn almost felt bad at having to reject the IK offer "Um, maybe later IK we actually have stuff to take care of right now, right Phoebe?" Phoebe nodded in agreement "Yes, it almost time to go home now but maybe we can hang out later okay?" She smiled at the IK who smiled back in return.

"Oh sure sure! some other day then guys" The IK didn't notice how the couple flinched at his excitement "Well.. we'll be going now, bye Simon." Not wanting to lie anymore Phoebe picked up Finn and quickly flew out of the ice home, leaving the IK behind.

"Bye guys! make sure come visit soon!" IK waved them off and walked back to his room only to find Gunter scribbling on his land of Aaa fanfiction "No gunter! bad penguin, bad" Pulling out a water spray he quickly punished the penguin and picked up the book.

His eyes moved quickly through the newly added lines and found himself unable to stop "Hm... this isn't half bad, im sorry gunter, come here boy" The penguin climbed on the lap of the ice king as he kept reading...

...

...

...

 **The Lich watched as Finn and the elemental girl flew away and then entered the house ready to take the gems off the Ice King crown.**

 **BREAK**

The couple of adventurers arrived at the tree house early in the evening, once they landed Finn took the time to properly examine the necklaces. The sparkling blue magic inside the tear shaped gem was cold to the touch and it almost felt like it was vibrating on his hand. The golden chain it hanged from looked a little to big for him but that was the least of his worries.

"What do you think Finn? will they work?" Phoebe asked as he finished looking over the gems "Only one way to find out" Finn said before taking a few steps away from Phoebe and the tree house. Slowly placing the Necklace on the golden chain shrinked until it fit comfortably around his neck, then he felt as if his insides had been completely frozen for a second, the sensation left his body quickly as the necklace covered his body with blue, looking at his now blue tinted arms Finn wondered if it was over until the color slowly disappeared leaving him shaken but otherwise fine.

Phoebe walked over to him as he noticed no real change "Finn? do you feel different?" Finn looked all round his body touching and moving feeling no different than before "Well... not really, but its magic so maybe its not so visible" Walking over to Phoebe, Finn took a few deep breaths and then nodded "Alright Phoebe let's try this out, hit me with some fire".

Phoebe took a step back in surprise before quickly refusing "What? of course not, what if it doesn't work?" Images of Finn unconscious back at the Candy Kingdom hospital flashed in her mind "Phoebe I will be fine! if this does work then you won't have to worry about hurting me ever again!" Finn reassured her and she sighed as her flames grew now that she wasn't holding back.

Slowly moving her hand forward she placed it on top of the hero's cheek, to their surprise the gem in Finn's neck shined at the sudden contact. Finn placed his hand on top of her own and smiled "This doesnt hurt... its not hot or cold either, it just you Phoebe" Tears threatened to fall down her cheeks but Finn quickly handed her the other necklace.

"This one is yours, try on!" Finn urged Phoebe and she quickly placed the necklace on, just like before the chain adjusted its size to her neck but what happened next surprised both of them. The gem didn't cover her in blue but instead sucked some of her fire in, orange and blue moved inside the gem until the blue appeared once more only to be replaced with a warm orange color, once this was finished the now orange gem coated her body with a red tint until it slowly disappeared.

The two lovers looked in confusion at each other for a moment "Was that supposed to happen?" Phoebe questioned but Finn simply shrugged "Maybe? if this did fix you then-" Before Finn could finish Jake called out to them in the distance "Looking good guys!" The magic dog arrived to the tree house quickly thanks to his extended legs.

Thankful for Jake's perfectly time arrival Finn quickly asked for help to his brother "Jake! good thing you are here, can you watch over us in case things get out of control?" The dog scratched his head in confusion "Uh sure? what are you going to do?".

Moving closer so that only Jake heard Finn whispered in his ear "Im going to try moving to tier 2 again, but without dying and stuff" Jake frowned at his brother's idea "Really Finn? last time the planet almost exploded and this time bubblegum isn't around to stop it!" Finn smiled before he replied "But you were there weren't you? you now how to stop it" Jake opened his mouth to argue but closed it as he thought about it.

"Well... yea I was there and all the princess did was cover the hole Phoebe was in with her ice weapon thing" Finn quickly reassured his bro before going back to Phoebe "See? easy stuff, just make yourself really big and then cover the hole!" Now next to Phoebe Finn took the princess hands on his own.

"Are you ready?" Phoebe looked a little scared but gave him a big smile "I-im ready Finn" The couple moved their faces together and closed their eyes, Jake looked at them ready to jump in if things went bad once more.

Their lips slowly touched except this time there was no blinding flash of light or wave of heat, Jake looked amazed as the two adventurers kissed gently, neither of them noticing the way their necklaces shined brightly as they kissed.

Slowly opening their eyes the couple realised that nothing had happened "Phoebe!" Finn exclaimed as he looked at her, there was no fire or heat and even her flames seemed barely affected by the kiss. Phoebe had a similar reaction as she felt completely normal, the feeling of her core overloading her with energy was replaced by butterflies in her belly.

Phoebe quickly wrapped her arms around finn as she cried out of happiness "It worked! hahahaha it really did work!" Finn hugged her tightly without restraints now that her fire was no longer in the way.

Jake watched silently as the couple celebrated their new found freedom, His mind wandering to the first times he went out with lady rainicorn. The sudden chill of the night wind making shiver before he called out to his friends "Hey guys let get back inside, im freezing out here" Jake made his way back inside the house and started making diner for everyone. Wondering about just what did those two had gotten into while he was gone...

...

...

...

 **Back in his hideout the lich dropped the gems of the Ice King's crown into a bag before going back into the depths of the mountain, a makeshift well of power resting in the inside that he used to keep harnessing his power.**

 **Taking a sip of the liquid he could feel his power growing and the wounds the King had left on him slowly disappearing, while those had been nothing more than minor inconveniences the raw power of the heiress to the Nightosphere had been unexpected. Her demonic powers being one of the last things that could truly wound him, but that did not matter, the gems of the crown were in his possession and the others would be too soon enough.**

 **Taking the ones further away from the Candy Kingdom would be key now that his patetic servant had failed to bring him the enchiridion, not to mention the old hero that was still a threat as old as he was and the human and his dog who would no doubt get in his way.**

 **Taking another sip he waited until the sun rose once more, he would be back and this time he would not fail.**

AN: Longer update this time around, not much to say other than that, enjoy!


	9. Preparations

This would not be the first time Bubblegum had spend hours working away in her lab, only stopping to eat or drink if only to make sure peppermint butler did not worry too much about her. Her lab was a place that always made her exited, fully stocked and with no restrictions she was free to experiment or research anything she wanted to her heart's content.

Sadly, not everything was fun and games. So far she had been unable to successfully recreate the cyclopses tears healing properties even with the formula in the enchiridion at her disposal, every prototype so far had shown slower and weaker effects compared to the original. Interrogation had been useless too as the cyclops themselves did not seem to now why did their tears had such abilities.

Stepping back from the blackboard filled with formulas Bubblegum took a moment to relax as she felt the frustration and stress building up at the back of her mind. Everything had been going bad for her lately, Project Goliad had to be posponed thanks to the sudden appearance of the Flame princess, then her plans to get the princess back to her lamp failed.

Negotiations with the Flame king to take her daughter back had been a failure too as the king couldn't have cared less about his own kin, having one person less that could possibly endanger his rule in the fire kingdom was more than enough reason to reject any and all offers Bubblegum made.

And now the side project that was supposed to be a way to take her mind off things was resulting to be another failure to add to the list.

Letting out a sigh that sounded more like a growl at the sudden beeping of the phone she had installed in her lab Bubblegum quickly answered "Bubblegum speaking" She hoped her tone of voice was enough to let whoever was on the other side she was not in the mood to talk.

"Bonnie? thank glob you answered, meet me at the balcony outside your room, im almost there" A winded Marceline replied from the other side, Bubblegum's previous annoyance was replaced by confusion "Almost there? are you coming over? why the sudden visit?" Looking around the room Bubblegum's eyes widened at the clock that showed 2:47 AM.

"Do you even know what time it is? i don't mind if you come over but-" Marceline quickly interrupted her with desperation clear in her voice "Bonnie! this is important, the Lich tried to kill the Ice King!" A chill ran down her spine and she nearly let the phone fall at the mention of that monster.

Quickly recovering from her shock Bubblegum pushed past her initial fear "Come here as quickly as you can, i'll be waiting for you" Ending the call after replying she quickly left the laboratory and ran through the empty and darkened halls of the castle.

Slamming open the door of her room Bubblegum wasted no time and moved to the balcony, her eyes moved across the night sky searching for any sign of Marceline or the Ice King. Her worry only grew once she saw no one in the sky, wondering if she should order a search or call Finn and Jake until a gray arm appeared from below the balcony.

Marceline grabbed onto the railing using her remaining strength to pull herself and Simon up, Bubblegum managed to catch Marcelline before she hit the floor and slowly placed her down before moving towards the unconscious form of the Ice King.

"Please, help him" Bubblegum could hear Marceline quietly pleading as the exhaustion slowly got to her, Using the scissors she kept in her lab coat Bubblegum removed the bloodied and burnt cloak. Deep gashes covered the torso of the Ice King and blood slowly spilled onto the floor, only a few cuts were covered by makeshift bandages made with different types of cloth.

Lacking the proper tools to take care of his wounds Bubblegum quickly ran out of the room and called out to a patrol of banana guards "Guards! take them to the hospital right now" Loyal to their princess the guards obeyed immediately, carrying both visitors as fast as they could.

Bubblegum leaned on the wall as she started feeling the hours she had spent working in her lab, shaking off the drowsiness she catched up to the guards. Despite all the questions runing around in her mind helping Marceline came first.

As the group moved through the hallways Bubblegum noticed the Ice King's crown tied to Marceline's waist, undoing the knot that kept it in place she inspected the crown, moving her fingers over the holes the gems were supposed to be.

If what Marceline had said was true then the Lich did not want to kill the Ice King, he was after the gems on his crown. Even then this was far from being a better outcome, why would the Lich need the gems of the crown? would other princesses be in danger of being attacked for their gems too? who would be next if that was the case?.

Bubblegum rubbed the sides of her head in frustration, she had to focus on the matters at hand.

The group arrived at the waiting area of the hospital and the guards stopped as they waited for instructions "Place Marceline into one of the recovery rooms, the Ice King comes with me" Two of the guards nodded and took off with the unconscious vampire in their arms, while the other two followed her into the emergency room.

Changing out of her lab coat as the guards placed the IK in the bed Bubblegum gathered the items needed for the procedure, waving out the guards she was left alone in the room. Moving the white beard out of the way she inspected the wounds once more until a faint giggling made her jump from surprise.

The IK tried hiding the noises he made as the fingers of the princess tickled his sides, until he felt a slap on his cheek "Ice King! just what are you playing at?!" The enraged princess demanded an explanation.

Rubbing the red spot on his cheek the IK replied "L-look im sorry but im really ticklish..." Surprisingly, the angry frown in Bubblegum's face disappeared and a small smile appeared on her lips "Actually... this is good, you can tell me what happened while I work on you" The IK nodded with a big smile in his face.

"Anything for you, my love" Ignoring the comment Bubblegum continued with her examination "I want to hear all of it, so start from the beginning" The IK took a moment to remember everything that had happened "Well, I was in my room after Finn and the Flame princess left..." Bubblegum's eyes widened at the revelation but she kept quiet.

"After that, well..."

 **FLASHBACK**

 _The reading of the newest chapter in his fanfiction was interrupted when gunter suddenly jumped to his feel and stared intently at the door._

 _"What's wrong boy? you hungry?" Gunter ignored the Ice King as the penguin kept his eyes on the door, as if something would happen if he looked away._

 _Placing his book down the IK got back up and walked towards the door "Okay, let's see what has you all riled up" Seeing what his owner was about to do Gunter quickly jumped down and placed himself between the door a the Ice King "Wenk wenk!" The IK scratched his head in confusion "Dangerous? don't be silly, here, i'll show you"._

 _The IK walked past the frightened penguin and opened the_ _door, a giant ball of green fire moved towards them, melting all ice on its path._

 _Quickly picking up Gunter, the IK blasted a hole in the wall and jumped in as the fire ball continued moving, burning all the way through the mountain. "Go Gunter! daddy will take care of this" Pushing the penguin away the IK turned around ready to deal with whoever was responsible._

 _With his ice magic ready he jumped into the tunnel that the fire had carved in his home, oblivious to the Lich presence as it watched him from the entrance of the hole._

 _"Come out! you will pay for this!" The IK threatened as he looked around until a smaller fireball hit him on the back. The ice magic the crown pumped through his body being the only thing that kept him from burning alive._

 _The Lich moved quickly and silently taking advantage of the disoriented IK, once he was close enough the Lich grabbed the IK and lifted him up so he could see his face. "Ah, let go of me you cheater! make this a fair-" Ignoring the cries of the IK, the Lich picked up the crown and threw the old wizard away._

 _After carefully removing the gems a sinister grin appeared on the face of the Lich, he turned around ready to leave now that his objective was complete until the tip of an ice sword suddenly appeared between his ribs "Give me back my things you thief!" Without reply the Lich turned around breaking off the part of the blade still inside his body._

 _With his crown and the sword gone the IK took a few steps away from the monster inside his house "U-um, you know I was just joking right?" Before the IK could say anything else the Lich used the sharpened tip of his skeletal fingers to cut the IK open or he would have had the IK not jumped away at the last moment. Despite his escape IK could feel the blood slowly soaking the insides of his cloak._

 _ **"Die"**_ _With those being his only words the Lich flew towards the IK ready to strike once more._

 ** _BREAK_**

 _Marceline flew in direction of Simon's house with a big hat and gloves to make sure the sunlight that remained in the sky did not harm her. Visiting Simon was a thing she had found herself doing every once in a while, making sure he was okay had been the reason she came in the first place but deep down she knew better._

 _She missed him, she missed the old man that would tell her stories he had read in one of his many books, she missed spending time together even more now that they had no war to worry about. Despite her feelings she would never allow herself to be seen, always turning invisible when she got close enough._

 _After a while the familiar face of the mountain came into view, except this time it had more holes than she remembered. She could also hear faint sounds of fighting in the distance, a smile appeared on her face as she got closer, Simon had probably gotten another princess hostage and Finn and Jake had been called in._

 _Turning invisible she quickly moved inside hoping to get a good scare out of the magic dog, following a particularly big hole that went through the mountain Marceline could feel a stench in the air that made her body go stiff. The entire place smelled like death and it only got worse the close she got to the sounds of fighting, small pools of blood that were on the floor finally made her lose all sense of control._

 _Flying as quickly as she could she followed the sounds coming from deep inside the mountain, Simon screams of pain came from one of the holes in the wall and Marceline wasted no time to follow it._

 _Inside the room she could see Simon in the grasp of a zombie with rotten flesh that clung to a old skeleton and a green flame inside its hollow eye sockets, her body reacted before he mind did immediately transforming into a giant bat and launching herself towards the two wizards._

 _The Lich could not react fast enough to her sudden appearance as she buried her claws deep into his rib cage, breaking a few bones and then threw his body against one of the ice walls, she quickly grabbed Simon and moved towards the exit "Im here! its going to be okay Simon!" The barely conscious IK could only groan in response._

 _Suddenly, everything turned black. Simon and the surroundings disappearing one by one, swallowed by a thick black mist that seemed to go on forever **"There is no need to fight"** The Lich words had a charm that Marceline could not ignore no matter how much she tried to resist **"Give your body to me and i'll let your friend go"** Marceline's monstrous form disappeared as she turned back to normal, slowly moving closer to the Lich._

 _The Lich grin got bigger as the Vampire queen moved closer, if he managed to take over her body he would be unstoppable._

 _Simon could barely see what was going on, his eyes felt heavier with every blink and the pain on his chest only got worse as time went by. Out of the corner of his eye he could see a girl floating over to the jerk that took the gems of his crown, using every ounce of strength in his body Simon focused all magic he had left in his body and attacked the unsuspecting Lich._

 _Ice quickly covered the body of the Lich, freezing him in place with the grin still on his face. The black mist disappeared as Marceline fell to her knees and grabbed her head as the influence of the Lich disappeared from her mind "I could... use some help now..." Simon weakly called out to Marceline and she quickly picked him up once more._

 _"I'm sorry Simon, I don't know what happened to me" Looking back to the frozen Lich Marceline wasted no time as she moved back outside with Simon at her side "That won't hold him forever, let's get out while we can" As they left the room neither of them noticed the black smoke that came out of the Lich mouth._

 _As they moved through the destroyed mountain Marceline felt blood coating her hands and shoulder, the front of Simon's cloak was completely covered in red and the normally blue skin looked pale no doubt thanks to blood loss._

 _Marceline placed the Simon down in what remained of his bedroom and quickly searched the clothes basket, most of the clothing was dirty and burned but it was still useful. Marceline ripped the clothes to shreds and moved back to place the makeshift bandages over the most dangerous cuts on his torso._

 _"Thanks..." Despite his state Simon seemed be still conscious, Marceline worked quickly but had to question how was this posible "Glob, you lost so much blood... how are you even alive right now?" A tired laugh was her response as she finished bandaging his wounds "Of course... the crown would not let me go that easily..."._

 _For a moment Marceline could have sworn that it was Simon talking to her and not the Ice King but she knew better than that, picking up the IK once more they moved towards the exit. To her surprise, she found the crown in the ground next to entrance of the room as if it had been waiting for them to find it._

 _Reluctantly Marceline picked up the crown and tied it to her waist like she had seen Simon do centuries ago, moving once more towards exit of the hole. Marceline cursed under her breath as she saw faint rays of sunlight outside, she had hoped to leave right away but with Simon all beat up and the sun still out they had no other choice but to wait it out._

 _A sudden chill shot down her spine and she quickly turned around to see the Lich behind them._

 _"Just leave us alone already you freak!" The Lich didn't seem to care about what she had to say as he suddenly moved his arms towards the roof and let the green fire burn in all of its intensity, Marceline's confusion only lasted for a few moments until she caught up to his plan._

 _Turning back into her monstrous bat form she desperately clawed at the floor digging as fast as she could "Whats happening..?" Simon questioned the vampire feeling his wounds sting at the sudden movement "He's trying to melt the top of the mountain! hold on Simon!" Her claws ripped the ice floor making a hole big enough for them to fit in._

 _Seeing how his prey tried to escape the Lich launched a fireball their way with one of his hands, with no way to dodge the incoming attack Marceline placed herself between the fire and Simon taking the full force of the blow. The smell of burning flesh filled the air for a few moments until Marceline's healing abilities kicked in, continuing her frantic digging even as the Lich keep shooting more and more fireballs their way._

 _The pain was almost unbearable as her skin burned only to be healed immediately after but Marceline knew stopping now would mean death for the both of them. Water started flowing through the hallway and the entire thing shook and trembled as the top of the mountain melted away, The hole was now big enough for her to fit comfortably even in her monster form but she kept digging once small rays of sunlight appeared from the holes in the ceiling._

 _The top of the mountain was almost gone with the only protection she had being the hole they were in, Simon could see behind them at the Lich looking into the hole and then preparing a fire attack with his usually green fire suddenly turning black._

 _Marceline would not be able to dig fast enough to hide from the blast and with no free room both of them would be cooked alive, his mind raced to find a solution until the golden crown hanging from Marceline's waist caught his attention. Taking the crown and placing it on his head Simon tried to use his magic to no effect, trying once more only small sparks came out of his finger tips._

 _The Lich having charged up enough launched a torrent of black fire into the hole, in one last desperate move Marceline buried her claws deep into the side of the hole leaving just enough space for one person to fit in._

 _Marceline pushed Simon inside and smiled at him "Its okay, its my turn to keep you safe" Ripping a piece of ice from the oposite wall Marceline used it as a shield and charged back up towards the surface trying to keep the fire at bay. Memories flashed in Simon's mind of a young girl crying in the middle of the ruins of a city, scared and alone. He remembered placing the crown on his head and fighting hordes of zombies to keep said girl safe even if it costed him his sanity._

 _The pain disappeared for a moment as his entire body moved out of the hole fueled by determination to keep Marceline safe, trying to use his ice again he took off his crown and held it in front of him "If you want me so badly then help me globdammit!" The crown shook in his hands and he placed it back on his head feeling the magic coursing through his body once more._

 _Marceline's ice shield had almost melted completely, she could feel the scorching heat of the fire through the thin ice but she refused to stop, she would not let simon down "Marceline! get out of the way, quickly!" Her eyes widened at the voice of Simon calling out to her, looking over her shoulder she could see the Ice King magic going out of control as the crown pumped him with all of its remaining power._

 _Leaving the shield behind Marceline quickly flew towards Simon, picking him up and placing him in front of the melting ice shield "Do it!" With no reason to hold back anymore Simon let the magic free. The black fire was quickly swallowed by the ice and the Lich flew away from the destroyed mountain as wave after wave of ice covered the top._

 _Ice moved everywhere without stopping, some of it going straight into the sky while other waves moved to the sides until it suddenly came to an end._

 _A monstrous amount of ice now covered the mountain that looked almost twice as big than before, with no easy was to reach his prey the Lich stared emotionless at the sight before simply turning around and flying away._

 **FLASHBACK END**

"What happened after that?" Bubblegum had finished sewing the Ice King's wounds and was completely attentive at every word from his story, IK simply shrugged and relaxed back into the medical bed "Marceline said I passed out, she waited out until the sun came down and then here we are!" IK said launching his arms into the air as if celebrating.

Bubblegum pondered the information for a moment "If what you say if true then... who are you right now?" The good mood of the IK disappeared as he closed his eyes, after a moment he let out a tired sigh and looked at the princess straight in the eye "To be honest, im not so sure anymore".

Silence took over the room until Bubblegum got up from her seat "Well... i'll come to check on you in the morning, don't touch the stitches and don't get up" The IK said nothing as the princess left the room, his mind filled with thoughts of two different people.

Bubblegum walked towards her room with her eyes struggling to stay open, a quick check up on Marceline showed that she was thankfully still asleep. She had no energy to deal with anything else right now and work was already piled up and waiting for her in the morning, arriving to her room she simply took off her clothes not bothering to put pijamas on.

Sleep took over her the moment her head touched the pillow, granting her a moment of respite if only for a night.

 **BREAK**

Phoebe woke up later than usual, while the previous day had not been particularly tiring the company in her room made it hard for her to get up.

Finn was asleep at her side, snoring and mumbling gibberish occasionally. She had been awake for a while now but made no move to get out of bed, wrapping her arms around Finn and pulling him closer, she liked hearing the sound of his heart beating in his chest and wondered if her core made noises like that too.

The movement seemed to wake up Finn slightly, his half closed eyes looking around the room and then to Phoebe "Hm... Flame princess..." Wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer, the two lovers enjoyed the warmth while they could before getting out off bed.

"Uh, guys? sorry to interrupt" Jake's stretched head poked from the hatch that led to her room, Phoebe untangled herself from Finn's hug and waved at the magic dog "Its fine Jake, did you need something?" The dog nodded before replying "Kinda, Bubblegum just called... said she needs us to be at the Candy kingdom as soon as posible, trouble with the Lich again".

Phoebe looked curiously at Jake at the mention of the Lich "Finn said you guys defeated him, how is he back?" Jake grew a pair of arms and shrugged as his head moved back up "We did beat him but the guy is inmortal or something. Can you wake Finn up? i'll make us something to eat".

With Jake out of the room she focused on the sleeping boy next to her, she almost felt bad about waking him up thanks to the pleased look on his face but they had work to do. Poking one of his cheeks she softly called the human's name "Finn, Finn... wake up" Finn opened his eyes once more and slowly got up from the bed.

"Good morning Phoebe, sorry woke up so late" Finn apologised but Phoebe explained "I don't mind, I just woke up too. I called you because apparently Bubblegum is having some problems with the Lich again" Finn nodded and walked towards the ladder "Jeez, that guy just doesn't know when to quit. I'll go get dressed real quick" Finn climbed up the ladder still wearing his pajamas.

Phoebe flew out of the room once Finn made it to the top, Jake was making some sandwiches with BMO at his side "Hey guys" Finn greeted them as he walked by, Jake stopped eating his sandwich for a moment "Get ready bro, PB has some trouble with the Lich" Finn waved his brother off as he reached the ladder to his room "I know, Feebs just told me. I'll be right back".

Taking a seat next to Jake Phoebe couldn't help but to wonder how would her first real heroic deed would go, from what Finn had told her the Lich was pretty dangerous and evil. A small pit of nervousness settled in her stomach as she thought about everything that could go wrong.

"Don't overthink it, we kicked the Lich's butt once and we can do it again. if anything it will be easier now that you are with us!" The magic dog's encouragement never failed to make her smile "You're right, I just worry to much" Jake smiled back at her as he placed a few sandwiches in a paper bag on the table.

Now dressed in his everyday adventuring clothes and backpack Finn jumped down the ladder and rolled to the front of the table "Alright, im ready jake!" Jake nodded and handed Finn a paper bag filled with sandwiches and another one to Phoebe.

"Whats this?" Phoebe opened her bag to find bits of coal with salt sprinkled on them "The usual, i thought you might need some flavor with that so i put some lemon and salt on it!" The magic dog proudly proclaimed with a grin on his face. Phoebe giggled and patted Jake on the head "I'm sure it will be tasty, thank you".

Finn grabbed their hands as he pulled them towards the exit "Come on guys, we got a Lich to beat!" Not wanting to keep his bro waiting Jake carried the couple all the way to the exit waving goodbye to BMO.

Once outside he let his body grow and set out in direction of the Candy Kingdom, the brothers enthusiasm proved contagious as Phoebe got more excited about what waited ahead of them.

As the Kingdom came into view Finn could tell that whatever had happened was serious, the Gumball guardians that normally only reacted if anything dangerous came close to the Kingdom walked around in circles around it, their heads turning around once they saw them.

"FINN AND JAKE. DESIGNATION: HEROES. PRINCESS OF THE FIRE KINGDOM. DESIGNATION: NEUTRAL." Having said that the Gumball guardians continued on patrolling around the Kingdom "Jeez, looks like PB is going all out with the security uh?" Jake commented as he walked over to the castle entrance.

Slowly shrinking back to a normal size once they arrived Finn and Phoebe jumped off his back and opened the door. The castle was similar looking to the outside with patrol of guards moving from place to place. The trio of adventurers looked at each other in confusion until Finn walked over to a Banana guard near the doors "Hey man, do you know were Bubblegum is?" Nodding in response the guard pointed towards the hallway that led to the hospital "She's checking up on the Ice King right now".

Despite his confusion Finn thanked the guard and waved Jake and Phoebe over to the hallway "Okay so... PB is watching over the Ice King apparently" Phoebe suddenly looked just as confused "This way leads to the hospital right? is the Ice King hurt?" Finn shrugged and kept walking.

The hospital was empty as always with the exception of a certain vampire in the waiting room "Marceline!" Both brothers called out to the pale girl as the ran over to her "Hey guys..." Marceline replied as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

Phoebe looked at the girl Finn talked so much about, sharp fangs, gray skin and two holes in her neck. She looked exactly like he had described her but compared to the stories she heard the real thing look really tired, almost sad about something.

Marceline's eyes wandered towards the elemental in the room, wondering just what the duo was up to now "What's up with the girl? she helping you on a quest or something?" Finn turned a little red at the question and Jake grind moving closer to her "I forgot you didn't know, her name is Phoebe and she my bro's lady!" The couple turned completely red at the magic dog's revelation while Marceline grinned in return.

"Well, well, well... didn't think you had it in you Finn" The human boy mumbled something in reply before the doors to the emergency rooms opened and Bubblegum came out followed by the Ice King "Simon!" Marceline quickly got up and dashed towards the duo.

"He's fine, but he will have to rest for a couple of days-" Bubblegum's diagnosis was cut short as Marceline wrapped her arms around her "Thank you so much Bonnie! you rock girl!" Bubblegum hugged the vampire back before continuing "No offence Marceline but you might be in danger if you stay here. Take the Ice King with you and lay down for a while until we take care of the Lich okay?" Nodding in response Marceline moved over to the IK.

Bubblegum turned her attention to the trio of adventurers in the room "We need to talk guys, but not here, follow me." Followed by the confused heroes Bubblegum led them into her laboratory.

Once inside Bubblegum closed the metal door behind them and let out a tired sigh "Okay, take a seat guys, its a lot to take in."

 **BREAK**

"...and that's all i know so far" A short silence settled after her explanation until Finn spoke "Dang It! if only I had been there this would have not happened..." The human hero blamed himself until Phoebe placed her hand on his shoulder "No, its my fault... I didn't think to check the magic in the air, if i had maybe we could have stopped this sooner.

"Now is not the time to blame each other guys, we gotta stop this guy" Jake tried to bring the couple's attention back to the matter at hand, Bubblegum nodded in agreement "Right now the best thing to do is to make sure the Lich does not get anymore gems, if he's planning something with them thats our best bet" Finn nodded as the guilt slowly moved at the back of his mind.

"But what are we supposed to do princess? we cant keep watch in all of the Kingdoms..." Bubblegum waved the heroes worry away before explaining "I already called in the news to all of the princesses, all of the Kingdoms are now in high alert. I also called someone that can help us, someone that knows the Lich better than anyone else" The trio shared a confused look until the door to the lab opened.

A giant of a man came in, despite the clear aging and white hair going down his back an aura of power could be felt in his presence. Phoebe was about to question the princess sudden visitor before Finn and Jake jumped out of their seats "Billy!" Running over to the giant man the brothers wrapped their arms round Billy's legs.

Having a laugh at the young heroes enthusiasm he patted both of them in the head "It is good to see you again, i only wish it could be under better circumstances" Letting go of the giant legs Finn replied "Yea, the Lich is being a butt again but with you here we can take on anything Billy!" The smile on the legendary hero's face suddenly disappeared.

"No Finn, my body is no longer what it used to be. Im only here to offer advice to you and the princess" The excitement died down in the room after the revelation "Oh... well that's cool too, because now we have someone new with us!" Jake pointed at the fire elemental in the room who simply waved in return.

Billy walked over to Phoebe and she couldn't help but to feel nervous under the gaze of the legendary hero, placing a hand on her shoulder Billy kneeled in front of her to look directly at her face "Yes, you have much potential. But i must warn you girl, the path of the hero is one filled with many evils and there is always the risk of losing something valuable to you... are you sure you wish to do this?".

Phoebe considered the question for a moment, memories of the past few days flashing in her mind. She returned the gaze in full force back to the giant as she replied "Its true i have only been a hero for a few days and that i have not actually done anything worthy of one but... im sure, this is what i want to do" Billy smiled at her answer as he got back up "Very well then, the following days will no doubt be a test for your resolve but something tells me you will do just fine" The fire in the girl's eyes reminded Billy when he first asked Canyon to join him in his adventures.

His reminiscing was cut short as the princess cleared her throat "With that out of the way, you said you had something to tell us?" Billy nodded in response and took a seat in the floor "Do you have the enchiridion?" Pulling the book from one of the drawers in her desk Bubblegum handed the book to the hero.

The trio of adventurers stared in surprise as Billy turned the sword sideways and a secret compartment opened up, several holes with different forms and size appeared on the cover of the book.

To everyone's surprise the gem on bubblegum's crown popped out and moved into its place in the book, Billy took out the gem and pointed at the holes "This is the final target of the Lich, he will gather all gems and then come for the book" He handed the gem back to the princess before the human replied "But why? what does he get out of this?" Billy closed his eyes focusing his energy into the gem in his possession.

A small ray of blue light moved around the room until it focused in the small shield drawing in the cover, after this the blue light from his gem disappeared but a red hologram popped up form the shield.

 **(AN: Skipping the explanation of the universe and prismo's time room, we all know that so its fine right?)**

"The Lich wants to get in there and ask for his wish" Billy concluded after the explanation "Booko" had given them, Finn stared in confusion at Billy before replying "Wish? this primo guy can make wishes to anyone that finds him?" Billy nodded before explaining "I have only heard rumours of heroes that came before me but it seems the reason a hero is always given the enchiridion is to protect the only means of entering this time room, making sure no evil ever gets to ask for a wish".

Phoebe punched Finn in the arm lightly "See? and you almost gave it to that dumb bear, good thing we didn't have it" Finn rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment mumbing an apology. Bubblegum stared at the holes in the book before asking "The are six holes in the book, other than mine, what gems would fit in there?".

Billy handed her a parchment with the names of several princesses written on it.

 _Ice King - Taken_

 _Engagement ring princess- Safe_

 _Emerald princess - Safe_

 _Hot dog princess - Safe_

 _Embryo princess - Safe_

Bubblegum nodded as she read the names "All of them are informed about what's going on but i don't think it will be enough" Billy agreed with the princess as he got back up to his feet "The Lich will waste no time in acquiring the remaining gems, we must act now before its too late" Finn jumped up to his feet and cracked his knuckles "Alright! but who should we check on first?".

Bubblegum stared at the names as she pondered the question "Hot dog princess and Embryo princess Kingdoms are the smallest on the list, they don't stand a chance against the Lich if he goes for them" Billy nodded in agreement before making his way towards the door "I should remind you that he Lich will not have mercy, i believe in what you do but if fighting cant stop him you should consider other means to stop him".

Finn and Jake nodded excitedly at the giants words "We won't let you down billy!" Once Billy left the room Finn turned around to look at the princess "We now what to do now PB, can we have the protection gems back?" Bubblegum opened another drawer and gave candy walkie-talkies to Finn and Jake along with their gems "Be careful guys, this isn't a game. You can use these to talk to each other if you get separated".

"What about me?" Phoebe crossed her arms and glared at the candy princess "I did not make the walkie-talkies fire proof, and your gem should keep you safe from the Lich mind control" Bubblegum explained to the angry elemental until Finn showed her the gem hanging from his neck "No need to worry princess! her fire thingy is fixed now!".

Bubblegum's eyes widened at the revelation while Phoebe turned red at the phrasing "Fixed? how did you...?" Before she could finish Finn placed a quick kiss on Phoebe's lips making her face turn completely red "See? nothing happened this time!" PB frowned at the display and quickly averted her eyes before replying "Too much info" Taking another walkie-talkie she handed it to the red faced girl in the room.

Jake wrapped his arms around the couple before walking over to the door "Alright you love birds, let's get going!" Waving at the princess the trio left the laboratory and left Bubblegum on her own.

Picking up the enchiridion and closing the secret compartment she started reading the book, if there was anything in there that could help them she would find it. She read a few pages until her eyes widened at the name of a chapter in particular.

 _CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE_

 _THE_

 ** _GAUNTLET OF A HERO_**

 **BREAK**

The travel back to Marceline's house had been significantly faster now that Simon was able to fly on his own, still wearing his crown despite its missing gems.

"Alright, were here" Marceline said as she landed at the entrance of her home, followed closely by Simon "Nice place, wish i had brought my drums though" Marceline rolled her eyes at the worries of Simon before opening the door.

Simon looked around the house while Marceline showed him around "Its not a big place as you can see, living room is here and the kitchen is at the back, my room and the bathroom are upstairs. That's were you're going to sleep" The Ice King turned red at the implications "Jeez, sharing a bed this early on?" Marceline resisted the urge to slap the old wizard.

"Ugh... not like that you jerk, you are staying in my bed, i'll take the couch" Marceline was thankful for her powers, spending the night in the stiff couch did not sound appealing at all. Simon looked at her in confusion "Why? I can sleep anywhere if you want" Marceline waved his worries away as she moved towards the kitchen "You still need to rest and im not letting you in the couch. Besides... if anything happens I can take of it faster that way" A small frown appeared on her face as she considered what would she do if the Lich returned.

"Actually, come with me for a moment" Marceline grabbed some bug milk from her fridge and Simon followed her with confusion, once they reached the second floor Marceline drew a happy face on one of the walls of her room "Okay, listen carefully. If anything, **anything,** happens to me i want you to throw this milk towards the face and then chant "Maloso vobiscum et cum spiritum!" once the wall opens jump in and look for a guy named hunson, he'll keep you safe if you tell him I send you".

Simon replayed the steps to follow in his mind and nodded "Okay, I got it. But your not leaving me... right?" A small smile appeared on the vampire's lips as she hugged him "Of course not, im not going anywhere, never" Simon returned the hug reluctantly as the memories in his mind made his head hurt.

Letting go of him Marceline pulled him back downstairs "Come on, let's get something to eat, im starving!" A grin appeared on Simon's face at the thought of warm food "Same and maybe after we could play some music! I saw your instruments in the living room and I had an idea for a song lately..."

 **BREAK**

"Okay, let try it once more" Phoebe stood on the back of jake while she prepared to use her new powers, just like before a wave of orange energy left her body and moved in all directions. Finn and Jake watched how her face twisted in concentration as the wave moved further and further away.

A few minutes passed until Phoebe took a seat once more and shaked her head "Sorry guys, im not getting anything" Finn placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled at her "Don't worry, we will find him soon enough" Jake suddenly started moving in direction of the Hot Dog princess kingdom.

"If we have no clues then we might as well check on all the princesses" The magic dog said as he moved as fast as he could.

Phoebe suddenly had bad feeling in her chest, as if something terrible had just happened. She looked around for anything dangerous or suspicious and nearly screamed when a hand touched hers. Finn stared at her with worry in his eyes "Are you okay? i know this can look scary now but its nothing to worry about... of course, you can wait back at the tree house if you want" Phoebe grabbed the offered hand and tried to calm her nerves.

"I'm sorry, i just suddenly had this bad feeling and... nevermind" Finn moved closer and hugged her rubbing her back "Its okay, the first adventure me and Jake got in was kinda scary too, mom got really angry with us but dad was super cool with it" Phoebe smiled at the mental image of a baby Finn and Jake runing around with sword in their hands.

"That's better, don't worry to much" Finn said and stayed close for the rest of the travel but even with his presence and encouragement the pit of fear in her chest remained.

 **BREAK**

 **The Lich stared for a moment at the direction where the pulse of energy came from, once nothing else happened he dropped the crushed body of the Embryo princess and placed the gem of her crown in a bag.**

 **He walked through the fleshy hallways of the now deceased princess kingdom, ignoring the bodies of guards and servants in the floor. Once he reached the outside the cave he found a bird watching at him with curious eyes. The eyes of the Lich lit up with green fire and a black mist swallowed the bird "Obey" With his command given he handed the bird the bag with the gem.**

 **The bird took off immediately in direction of the cave that served as his lair for the time being, instead of moving directly towards his newest target the Lich moved through the forest nearby and walked back towards his newest servant.**

 **In a small clearing a little dog wearing what could barely pass as armor waited for him, its eyes light up at the sight of his master** "Is it time?" **The little dog questioned and the Lich nodded.**

 **A crazed grin appeared on the dog's face as he pulled the chest armor off himself and removed the sword from its sheath, in one swift movement the dog placed the tip of the surprisingly sharp sword against its chest and pushed. The sword went through its body with ease, the dog coughed up blood and groaned in pain as he fell on his back and the fall forced the sword back out and making the pain worse for the poor animal.**

 **The Lich watched emotionless as blood spilled into the green grass and life slowly left the animal, with one last pained howl the dog stopped moving completely as it finally died. The Lich wasted no time as he whispered ancient chants that he had learned millenia ago, his body slowly turned into smoke that entered the dead body until there was no more.**

The corpse twitched and twisted at the same time its wounds closed, getting back up to his feet as if nothing had happened the possessed body equipped its armor and sword once more before making its way back to the Hot Dog princess kingdom.

The dog grinned as he walked, this was all proving to be too easy.

AN: Had to split this day into two parts because i want to update at least once a week, also next week might not have a new content update because i plan to fix spelling and mistakes in previous chapters (including this one lol) so... yeah, fun. Hope you guys enjoy.

OMAC001: Things are certainly not going to be the same now that we have Phoebe in the mix.

Blaszczu2500: Lets hope Phoebe manages to keep it together in her first life or death situation, looks like the Lich is not playing around this time.


	10. Confrontation

Hot Dog princess liked it when things were peaceful, she was no stranger to tragedies despite the size of her kingdom. Her loyal citizens which eventually became part of her royal guard were not the smartest or strongest and thanks to that the dozens of guards were slowly lost to accidents or monsters that wandered in the forest.

Only six remained and she tried her best to keep them safe after she almost lost them when they wandered to far inside the maze, despite their close brush with danger the royal guards still wished to explore and adventure in her name. She was okay with their explorations as long as they didnt go to far deep into the forest or in otherwise dangerous areas.

Today she regretted that decision, after the candy messenger had come to inform her about the situation she had been waiting for her guards to come back for hours now, being alone with the threat of the Lich roaming around Ooo was starting to make her paranoid.

She tried to go out looking for them in the surrounding forest but her fears overwhelmed her the moment she left the safety of her Kingdom, the rational part of her brain knew that if the Lich came for her the wooden walls and her guards would do little to stop the Lich, if anything at all. All of this led to the current situation, where she huddled in the corner of her dog house and stared at the crown left outside.

The wait was turning out to be the worse part of it, waiting for the royal guards to come back, waiting for the Lich to arrive, waiting for something to happen. She flinched and closed her eyes at every noise that resembled footsteps, until a familiar voice broke the silence.

"Oh my glob, Hot Dog princess!" The fear and dread disappeared the moment she heard the voice of the human hero.

Finn jumped over the walls and quickly picked up the abandoned crown, before he could start to panic he saw the timid princess walk out of her home with small shaky steps "F-finn? oh thank glob you are here!" With her previous worries gone Hot Dog princess quickly walked up to the hero and attempted to climb up to his chest.

Finn picked her up and held her against his chest, giving the princess some time to recover. Looking over the crown with his free hand he let out a relieved sigh once he saw the gem still in place and flashed a thumbs up to Phoebe and Jake who nodded in return before moving around the small Kingdom, making sure there were no threats around.

Once the princess looked more relaxed Finn started questioning her "What happened Hot Dog princess? were you attacked?" Hot Dog princess shaked her head before replying "N-no, thankfully... I was just so afraid that the Lich would get me too" Finn rubbed her back in a comforting manner "Don't worry princess, we are here to make sure you are safe".

Hot Dog princess snuggled against the chest of the hero once more, enjoying the feeling of safety that seemed to follow Finn anywhere he went. Phoebe looked at them from the corner of her eye and ignored the feeling of jealousy that burned in her chest, she moved closer to the forest and looked around for anything suspicious.

Jake did the same from the oposite side and once he was sure there were no monsters waiting in the shadows he stretched back towards the small Kingdom and motioned for Phoebe to do the same.

Now that they were sure the princess would be safe for the time being Finn placed her back on the floor before asking "Where are your guards princess? I haven't seen them since we got here" Worry once more took over HDP at the mention of her guards "They went out exploring all day, I tried to go to the forest and look for them but... I was really scared".

Finn smiled at her before replying "If that's the case then we'll go find them, that will make you feel safer right?" HDP looked unsure for a moment "Well... yes, but-" Before she could finish Finn continued "Just wait right here princess, we'll be back right away!".

The trio of adventurers walked towards the nearby forest but before they could leave Hot Dog princess wrapped her arms around Finn's leg "No! please don't leave me alone again!" The desperation in her voice made the fear HDP had perfectly clear to them, Jake simply shrugged at the apologetic look in the human's face "Well, me and Phoebe are the fastest so I guess its fine if you stay here, right?" Phoebe nodded at the idea "Jake and I can take care of the missing guards but if anything happens call us right away".

Finn smiled at his friends before replying "Don't worry guys, we'll be fine" Phoebe looked worried for a second before placing a kiss on the boy's lips "You better be, don't go taking risks just because we have magic tears now".

Finn rubbed the back of his head a little embarrassed at his girlfriend's actions "I-i promise" Satisfied with the answer Phoebe flew just above the ground and set out to find the guards deep into the forest, followed by jake who simply ran behind the elemental.

Once they were out of sight Finn picked up the scared princess and walked back to the small Kingdom, after placing her crown back on her head Finn sat down on the small yard and keep his eyes peeled for anything suspicious.

...

...

...

From the other side of the forest, the figure of one of the missing guards walking back towards the Kingdom slowly came closer.

 **BREAK**

After a while of searching Jake and Phoebe stopped to take a small rest, Jake let out a tired sigh as he sat on the floor "Man, im starting to feel my age" Phoebe simply shaked her head at the magic dog "You're just lazy Jake, im more bothered by the fact that we haven't found any trace of the missing guards".

Jake simply shrugged in return "Its fine, they have to go back sooner or later" Phoebe couldn't deny the logic in her friend's statement, but she couldn't shake off the pit of uneasiness in her stomach. Get back up to her feet she closed her eyes and cleared her mind while Jake stared at her in confusion until the familiar wave of orange energy appeared.

A minute passed and before Jake could get comfortable once more Phoebe let out a gasp once she opened her eyes "They are... underground?" She looked down to the floor around them as if searching for something. Jake though for a moment before replying "Like... a cave or something? but we haven't seen once of those either".

Phoebe tried once more but this time she keep her eyes open, she could see a very small tunnel going underground with a few figures moving back and forth around a slightly bigger figure. Her eyes followed the small hole all the way to the top and she moved closer to the entrance, between a few rocks and patches of overgrown grass she found what she was looking for.

"Jake! I need your help with something" Phoebe called out to Jake and waited until he came closer "Is that a rabbit hole?" She nodded "Yep and that's were they are, maybe they got trapped down there?" Jake shrugged in return and shrinked enough to fit in the hole.

Phoebe watched as two walkie-talkies and the gem Bubblegum gave him fell to the ground "Dang it, can you watch over them until i come back?" Phoebe nodded and picked up the items before Jake walked inside the hole.

She waited for a moment before taking a seat on one of the big rocks nearby, she pushed the button on the side of the walkie-talkie like Jake teached her before speaking "Finn, are you there?" The response came immediately "Phoebe! I was starting to get worried, did you guys found the rest of them?" Her face twisted in confusion before replying "Uh yea but what do you mean by the rest of them?".

"Oh, one of the guards came back early or something. So now we are just waiting for the rest" Phoebe nodded in understanding "Oh okay, we'll be back soon then" The walkie-talkie when silent once more and she placed them on the ground next to the rock.

"I really need to get myself a backpack or something... not much use in having a sword if Finn has to carry it all the time" Phoebe said to no one in particular as she got comfortable, looking over to the rabbit hole nearby she wondered how Jake was doing.

 **BREAK**

Jake had to admit that rabbits were pretty good diggers, the hole while small in size was surprisingly deep. His surprise was slowly replaced by annoyance as the light slowly disappeared leaving him in complete darkness, despite his situation he keep walking figuring the hole could only go in one direction.

His silent walk was interrupted by a few unintelligible mumbles, crying and sobbing after a few minutes. The poor illumination only made matters worse now that he could barely see his hand own in front of him, the noises only got louder the more he walked and fear slowly took over him. His steps slowed down to a crawl once the crying and sobbing sounded like they were right in front of him "G-guys? are you here?".

Suddenly everything went quiet, the only noise now coming from his shaky breaths "I-im here to help you guys... s-so come out now" Steps that moved closer to him were his response, his mind played tricks on him as he now remembered all the monsters from horror movies he saw with Finn and Marceline. Shaking his head side to side Jake started walking again towards the steps that moved towards him.

He moved his arms to the front hoping to not crash face first with one of the missing guards and almost screamed when he touched the armored shoulder of one "H-ha ha, you scared me man. Are you okay? the princess was..." His voice died the moment the smell of blood reached his nose, his hand fell back to his sides once the guard turned around.

Even in the darkness Jake could feel the eyes of the guard on him and chills ran down his spine once he heard another set of steps behind him.

It took every last bit of willpower he had to not sprint out of the rabbit hole "U-um... I-is thi-" Before he could finish a hand grabbed him by the head and pushed him to the ground, the hit disoriented him for a moment and whoever did it then grabbed both of his arms and held them in place.

Someone else then jumped on top of him and covered his mouth with both of his hands with the smell of blood and dirt all over them "You have to be quiet, we are safe here, safe" The twitchy voice did nothing to calm his fears "He is still out there, this place is safe, stay here with us" Having said his piece the stranger removed his hands from his mouth.

Despite this, his arms were still pinned to the ground by the other guy "Safe from who? who are you? what's going on?" His questions only seemed to anger whoever was trying to keep him here "No, no no no! you are going to bring him back here!" The voice sounded desperate and the sobbing from earlier slowly appeared once more.

Jake opened his mouth to speak but the stranger continued "Oh glob, we are all going to die... No, no, we don't have to die. All he needs is the gem from the princess, if we let him have them he will spare us!" Jake's eyes widened in realisation "Y-you... are you the guards of the Hot Dog princess? what happened to you?" This time a punch to the face was his response "Shut up! or we will throw you out!".

The punch had been way stronger that Jake expected, he could almost taste the blood in his mouth "That's good punishment for now, but you still have to share it with us" Jake had never been more grateful for his powers until he felt the sword of the guard trying to cut one of his arms off, the blade buried itself on the ground along with his arm but thankfully did no damage.

Not wanting to see what would the crazed guards would try next he lifted his foot and extended it until the guard in front of him crashed against the tunnel wall, growing an extra arm on his head he punched the guard that keep his arms in place. Quickly getting back up to his feet Jake mumbled a curse once he realized he didn't know which way he came from.

Not wasting anymore time he picked a side and ran as fast as he could in the darkness, he could hear the sounds off footsteps behind him and that only made him run faster.

The smell of blood got worse the more he ran until he crashed against what felt like a wall of flesh that stopped him in his tracks, the footsteps stopped too once they cached up to him. To his surprise the hole suddenly lit up as one of the crazed guards lit up a torch, this time he didn't bother to stop the scream that came from his mouth.

The dead carcass of a butchered rabbit blocked the path, its rib cage opened from side to side with most of its organs missing or half eaten. Jake turned around not wanting to look at the animal any longer but found himself face to face with another abomination, the royal guards eyes were pitch black, as if his eyes had been removed from their sockets.

The skin peeled off their bodies, making them look like zombies from a horror movie "He he he, wrong way... now you have to join them" The crazed dog pointed with his bloodied sword in direction of one of the walls, Jake's eyes slowly followed, not entirely sure he wanted to know what he meant.

The bodies of the three other missing guards leaned against the wall, with both legs and arms missing. Surprisingly they looked normal or as normal as Jake remembered them "They were going to kill us all, getting in the way of the gems master needs. But its fine now see? they are safe now and everything is fine" Jake covered his mouth trying to stop himself from puking.

The two remaining guards walked over to him with their swords ready "Don't worry, master said we could kill you quickly... but the human, he has to suffer" Jake's eyes widened at the mention of Finn, images of his brother losing to the Lich flashed in his mind and he let out a feral grow that slowly grew in intensity.

"I won't let you put a hand on him!" Jake grabbed both dogs with his enlarged hands and crushed them with all of his strength, the crazed guards tried to free themselves only for a moment before their sounds of struggle stopped and the crunching of bones resounded in the hole.

Jake opened his hands and let the corpses of the guards fall to the ground, making sickening noises with every moment.

Taking a moment to calm himself Jake started runing in the oposite direction, not looking back even once.

 **BREAK**

Phoebe watched the clouds in the sky, looking for different forms and shapes. She had been waiting for minutes now and Jake showed no signs of coming back, part of her was worried something might had happened but even then she was forced to wait thanks to the reduced size of the hole.

She turned to look at the entrance of the rabbit hole once she heard labored breathing coming from the inside but her smile disappeared the moment Jake finally came out of the hole.

His yellow fur was covered in blood and his hands were completely soaked as if he had beaten someone to death. She got back up to her feet in a second and quickly walked over to the magic dog "Oh my glob, Jake are you hurt? what happened in there?" Jake didn't seem to hear her as he walked away from the hole and towards the Hot Dog princess Kingdom.

Phoebe tried to stop him by grabbing him by the arm "Jake, are you listening? what happened there?" Stopping on his tracks Jake turned around to look at Phoebe "They are all dead, the Lich got to them..." Phoebe covered her mouth at the sudden revelation "D-dead? b-but how?" Jake took a seat on the floor, suddenly looking very tired "The Lich came here before us, he wanted to get rid of the guards of the Hot Dog princess to make sure they wouldn't get in the way".

Phoebe pondered the matter for a moment before replying "But how would killing those guards make any difference? you said they were harmless" Jake shook his head "I... its not about the guards, its about Finn, the Lich is trying to hunt him down. I guess he planned to lure him out here on his own by... killing the guards..." Jake suddenly stopped talking as the gears started to turn in his head.

He turned to look at Phoebe and was surprised to a terrified expression on her face "How many... how many guards were in there Jake?" Jake thought to the corpses he saw and slowly replied "F-five, there were five of them in there... why?" Phoebe covered her mouth with her hand before runing back to the area near the hole and picking up the walkie-talkies and the protection gem.

"Phoebe? why is the number important?" Jake was ignored as Phoebe tried using the walkie-talkie "Finn?! Finn are you there?!" Phoebe waited anxiously for a reply from the other side only to feel as if a hole had appeared on her chest once there was none.

Jake grabbed her face and forced her to look at him "What's going on Phoebe? tell me!" Phoebe slowly looked directly at the magic dog "Because... there is one guard back at the Kingdom right now, why would the Lich kill everyone else and let one live...?" The realisation hit Jake like a bucket of cold water, not wasting any more time he grabbed his protection gem, the walkie-talkies and started runing as fast as he could back towards the Hot Dog princess Kingdom.

Phoebe shaked the fear and worry out of her mind before taking off high into the sky and flying back as fast as she could.

 **A FEW MINUTES EARLIER...**

"-back soon then" Finn placed the walkie-talkie back into his backpack once he was done talking with Phoebe "Oh, im so glad they found them" HDP commented as she got back up to her feet "I hope they didn't got hurt during their exploration..." Finn patted the princess on the head to try and ease her worries "I'm sure they are fine princess, they probably just got lost".

The princess curled up in his lap once more and relaxed under his touch, despite the fact that everything was going well Finn couldn't help but to feel uneasy. While he didnt say anything about it he was pretty sure it had something to do with the small guard dog that arrived on his own.

He hasn't said a single word since he arrived, not even to his own princess but the real problem was the fact that ever since Phoebe said they found the guards he had this creepy smile on his face that looked like it would split his head in half. Finn tried hard to not look at the dog while he kept petting the princess in his lap and waited until his friends came back from their search.

"So they found them" Finn turned his head to look at the dog when he finally spoke, it walked slowly up to him and placed his little hands on his leg "Say... what is that thing on your head Finn?" Finn touched the protection gem that poked from under his hat and gave a nervous smile to the odd dog "Oh, this? its a special gem to make sure the Lich doesn't mess with my head".

Finn could have sworn that the grin in the dog's face got wider "That so? can I see it?" The little dog lifted one of its hands as if trying to reach up to the gem.

Finn reached up to his head to take off the gem if only to keep the dog off him but something stopped him, a primal sense deep down in his mind forced his hand to stop. He looked at the dog once more, this time he looked at him straight in the eyes.

There was nothing there, only an empty stare that seemed to hide the biggest malice he had ever felt in his life. One that he had felt once before, one that could only belong to someone he knew too well.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment as Finn realized what was going on, this time it was not just his imagination, the smile grew even more and this time it ripped the skin of the face of the small body that contained it. Grabbing the Hot Dog princess in his arms Finn jumped back as far away as posible from the Lich, HDP screamed as she saw her loyal guard get ripped open from the inside as the monster she feared so much crawled out.

Finn pulled out his sword and moved HDP onto his back "Hold on princess, i'll take care of this" Wordlessly the princess moved inside his backpack and tried to calm her sobbing.

The Lich stood tall in the middle of the yard as he watched the human's every movement, while Finn would have normally charged up to him ready for a fight he had to be careful to not get in a situation where the Hot Dog princess could get hurt. Realising the advantage he had the Lich wasted no time and dashed towards the human hero.

Finn dodged to the side as the claw like hand of the Lich buried itself on the floor where he had been a moment ago, before he could counter attack green fire suddenly covered the ground and burned anything in its path. Finn grinned back at the Lich as the ice gem around his neck negated any damage the fire could have done to him.

Aiming his sword at the arm stuck to the ground Finn attacked with all of his strength and in one swift movement the arm was severed from the rest of the Lich's body.

Letting out a displeased grunt the Lich slapped the hero away with his other hand, Finn blocked as best he could but the sheer strength managed to send him flying. Twisting around in the air he made sure to not land on his back so that the princess would not be harmed.

The Lich picked up his severed arm and moved it back in place, Finn watched unsure of what was going on until he saw the arm stick back in place as if nothing had happened. Slowly getting back up to his feet Finn tried to think of a way to stop the Lich, with Billy's gauntlet gone there was no weapon capable of hurting him but maybe if he waited until Jake and Phoebe came back then-

His line of thought was interrupted once the Lich charged at him once more and launched fireballs as he came closer, Finn moved away from the monster blocking as many fireballs as he could despite the fact they would not harm him. Or so he thought until he missed one that hit him in the shoulder, pain shot through his body as if he had been hit with a sharp rock.

The surprisingly heave force the small ball carried stopped him in his tracks as he almost lost balance, giving enough time for the Lich to get closer as he moved his razor sharp fingertips towards the human's chest.

Stabbing the sword in the ground Finn used it as a support and then jumped on top of the Lich as his hand barely missed him, aiming his sword at one of the empty eye sockets Finn pushed the tip of his sword forward. The sword went through with ease as it came out from the back of the Lich's skull, Finn tried to use the now stuck sword as a lever to take the Lich's head off just like that time in the old ruins of the city.

His efforts seemed futile as the Lich trashed around wildly trying to shake the human off himself, Finn jumped from shoulder to shoulder avoiding the hands of the Lich while he tried to remove his head, sweat ran down his forehead as the effort took a toll on his energy.

The bizarre fight lasted a few moments before Finn was a little too slow in one of his jumps and the Lich managed to grab one of his legs, Finn could only watch as the Lich lifted him up in the air before bringing him down to the ground with all his might.

Seeing as he could not change how he fell Finn slipped his backpack off and hugged it to his chest, the ground cracked and a bunch on dust covered the area for a moment as the Lich slammed down the hero into the ground.

Despite the crippling pain that shot all over his back Finn still clutched the backpack to his chest with all his strength, slowly lifting him up once more the Lich brought the battered hero closer to him as he savored his victory. Thanks to the hit and the fact he was being held upside down Finn's head pounded and he started to taste bile and blood in his mouth.

The Lich removed the demon blood sword from his skull and brought it close to the human, a small part of the determined look in Finn's face turned to fear as he realized what was happening, the bright red color of the sword slowly faded away as it turned gray and cracks started appearing all over it.

 **"You failed once more, child"** It was not clear if Finn heard him as his eyes never left the crumbling sword in his hand **"Failed to live up to your father's expectations"** The last remnants of the sword fell to the ground and turned to dust the moment they touched the floor, the Lich's hand now moved towards the backpack **"And failed to keep your loved ones safe".**

Despite his efforts the Lich managed to take the backpack from his hands with little trouble, having now what he came here to get the Lich threw the human away. Finn groaned in pain as the fall only made the pain in his back worse, he watched as the Lich opened up his backpack and the terrified screams of the Hot Dog Princess rang out through the forest.

The pain slowly got worse as adrenaline left the the hero's body, still refusing to give up he slowly got back up to his feet and despite the fact that he was still trying to fight, the Lich didn't seem to care about him and instead focused his attention on the princess inside the backpack.

Willing to risk her chances the princess jumped out of the backpack before the Lich could grab her and ran as fast as she could in the direction Jake and Phoebe had left. The Lich was about to chase the princess until he saw the crown that had been left behind, picking up the golden crown the smile on his face suddenly disappeared.

The place where the gem was supposed to be was empty, the hollow eye sockets looked directly at the hero who looked just as confused as to why did he let the princess get away. Crushing the crown in his hand and throwing it away the Lich slowly walked towards the human "Not so smart now uh?" Finn taunted between labored breaths and pained gasps.

"Finn?! Finn are you there?!" The sudden interruption stopped the Lich on his tracks, looking at the backpack still in his hands he saw a small pink walkie-talkie inside. Finn almost fainted in relief at the sound of Phoebe's voice, maybe they had heard the fighting or HDP ran into them and once they arrived they could help him take the Lich down!

His hopes were crushed once he heard the crazed laugh of the Lich, after crushing the little pink radio in his hand he dropped the backpack on the floor and dashed towards the human. In no shape to move out of the way or fight back Finn simply closed his eyes and hoped for a painless death before a crushing grip lifted him off the ground, the Lich smiled at him before turning around and holding him high as if to show he had bested him.

Finn expected to be slammed down into the ground once more but the Lich did no other movements and simply waited in that position, Finn tried to escape to no avail and relaxed in his grip hoping his friends would get there soon.

 **BREAK**

Jake ran in direction of the Kingdom as fast as he could, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling of dried blood in his fur. He had been trying get a response from Finn using the walkie-talkies to no result and the words from the corrupted guards only made things worse.

He could see Phoebe speeding up in the air leaving a bright orange trail behind her that grew in intensity with each passing second, his run was interrupted once a familiar voice came from somewhere ahead of him "Jake! Phoebe! help!" Jake's eyes widened at the sound of the HDP voice, Extending a part of his body he moved it closer to Phoebe to make her stop.

Phoebe could see the yellow hand waving her back and despite her urgency she stopped and flew back in direction of the magic dog, her eyes widened in surprise once she saw the terrified princess in his arms "Hot Dog princess? what happened? where is Finn"? The princess simply shook her head as tears ran down her cheeks "The Lich did something to one of my guards... a-and he and Finn fought but... Finn lost".

The eyes of the adventurers widened in shock at the revelation "L-lost? b-but..." Phoebe's words died in her throat as images of a dead human flashed in her mind, Jake seemed to be keeping his mind together as he continued "His he... dead?" Thankfully for them the princess shook her head once more.

"No, I-i don't think so. I ran the moment i had the chance and Finn stayed behind" Phoebe grasped the small hope of Finn being okay and prepared to take off once more "Come on then, we don't have time to waste!" Before she could go back to the air the desperate voice of the princess stopped her.

"Wait! I have something for you!" Both adventurers looked at the princess who looked a little disgusted "I'm sorry about this but... I couldn't think of anything else" Before anyone could ask what she meant she suddenly regurgitated a small red gem that was covered in saliva.

Jake and Phoebe looked in shock at the scene before Jake reluctantly picked up the gem "Is this... the gem of your crown?" HDP nodded in return "Y-yes... the Lich is after them right? so I couldn't let him have it" Despite the situation Jake smiled at the princess "Well done princess, you did great" The princess smiled back at the magic dog as she slowly calmed down.

Phoebe watched the two with a slightly annoyed expression on her face, she moved closer to the pair and patted the princess on the head "You... did good princess but we cant stop now, Finn needs us" HDP nodded in understanding "I know but... what do I do now?" Jake and Phoebe looked at each other waiting for an answer.

After a moment of thinking Phoebe sighed and shook her head "Just... go to the Candy Kingdom, can you do that princess?" HDP nodded confidently "Don't worry about me, I know these forests from top to bottom!" Phoebe smiled at the princess as she slowly flew back up "Hurry up then, we will go back once we take care of this" Before she could go any further a yellow hand wrapped itself around her waist.

Phoebe and the princess looked with confusion at the magic dog for a moment before he spoke "We cant just rush in like that Phoebe, the Lich is probably waiting for us and we are going to need a plan for that. Good thing is, I think I have just the thing we need... but im going to need your help once more princess".

 **BREAK**

The previous fear had all but vanished after spending so much time in the same position, Finn tried to look down but stopped once the grip the Lich had on him tightened. He could tell that even the Lich was getting impatient as the sunset started to appear over the horizon, the warm bright orange sun rays reminded him of the way Phoebe looked when she was happy.

Some of the rays even moved around high up in the sky, he tried to focus more on the little ball of fire until the rustling of leaves caught his attention.

Finn felt a pit forming in his stomach as a bloodied Jake came out from the forest but before he could speak the Lich moved him to the front as if to use him as a shield **"The gem"** Jake seemed nervous as he came closer and opened his hand just enough for the red gem to be seen in his palm "Finn" Jake replied in the same way.

Finn struggled once more at the sight of his brother and screamed "Jake, don't give it to him! dont-" His pleading was interrupted when the Lich squeezed harder and pushed the air out of his lungs **"The gem!"** Green fire slowly moved through its arm and towards the hand that held the human hero, Jake didn't want to risk further injury to his brother and quickly spoke "Okay! okay! i'll give you the gem... catch!" The magic dog threw the gem as hard as he could over the Lich.

Not wasting a second the Lich quickly flew over to the gem before it landed and launched a big fireball behind him, giving Jake just enough time to move out of the way. The Lich easily caught the gem in the air, Finn look in shock at his brother and his eyes widened once Jake gave him a thumbs up at the same time once of his hands grew and extended in their direction.

The Lich brought the gem closer to his face and his grin slowly disappeared, in his skeletal palm a small red berry slowly leaked juice from being treated so roughly. As he turned around to look at the yellow dog another hand took hold of the human and before he could retaliate a giant fist punched him so hard a few of his ribs cracked under the pressure.

As the fist showed no signs of stopping Finn struggled to free himself and with the help of Jake's hand forcing the fingers open he managed to escape and fall into another yellow hand that quickly moved him away from the Lich, Jake hugged his brother once he was close enough but keep his eyes in the fight in front of him.

The fist that pushed the Lich away suddenly morphed into a lot of smaller hands that wormed their way into the Lich's body, once they had a good grip on it they lifted the monster high up in the air. Jake ignored the feeling of the fire burning him as the Lich tried to escape before moving his many arms back down as hard as he could.

Finn watched in slight amusement as the same movement the Lich used on him was returned in full, the ground cracked and a cloud of dust covered the entire place as Jake buried the Lich deep down into the ground. Quickly moving his arms back to his body Jake checked Finn over for wounds "You okay man? im sorry we took so long" Finn simply nodded in return as he looked around "Im fine Jake, more importantly... where is Phoebe?" Finn's worry disappeared the moment Jake grinned at him as he looked up at the sky "You'll see".

The Lich took a moment to let his body repair itself once more until a sudden bright light caught his attention, a giant ball of fire moved quickly towards him, as if the sun itself was about to fall down to the earth and in the middle of it all he could see a girl ready to crush him. An uncharacteristically fearful gasp escaped from his mouth **"The embodiment of fire..."** The Lich briefly wondered how had the human managed to get such a powerful ally to obey his commands before deciding it would be best to escape for the time being.

As Phoebe came closer and closer to her target she allowed her rage to fuel her fires once more, once she was close enough her face twisted in disgust at the sight of the Lich and she barely managed to catch his last words **"Acwincan"** Just before her fiery fist could hit him she watched as he turned to smoke and banished in a second.

The force of her landing cleared all the dust form the area and she could only stare in confusion at the place where the Lich had been just a moment ago. Yelling brought her back from her thoughts as Finn and Jake cheered at her from a safe distance "Woo! get him Phoebe!" Finn cheered at she let out a sigh of relief once she realized he was not badly hurt.

Flying out of the hole that once was a Kingdom Phoebe walked over to the pair "Good one Phoebe! did you get him in the face?" Jake questioned excitedly but she shook her head sadly "No Jake... he disappeared before I could hit him" Despite the outcome neither of the brothers seemed to bothered by it "Ha! that coward probably realized who he was up against, no wonder he ran away" The magic dog proudly boasted and Finn nodded in agreement.

Phoebe looked at Finn and smiled "I'm so glad you are okay Finn" The human boy slowly got back up to his feet and moved in for a hug but Phoebe quickly stopped him "Wait, not yet" Finn's face twisted in confusion until Jake took out a small gem from somewhere inside of his body that he recognized to well "The ice gem?".

Phoebe nodded as she placed the gem around her neck once more "Yea, I had to take it off for a moment. I cant use my powers in full while wearing it" Finn nodded in understanding "Ah... I see" The human boy stood around awkwardly as the gem worked its magic.

Once the red faded from Phoebe's body she walked over and hugged the human hero "I'm sorry, if i had been here the Lich wouldn't have sneaked up on you" Finn hugged her back as hard as he could "Its fine, all that it matters is that we managed to stop him" Phoebe humed in agreement and enjoyed the presence of his loved one.

Jake picked up the abandoned backpack in the floor and placed it inside himself before looking up at the orange sky and speaking "We should get going back to the Candy Kingdom guys, Bubblegum's gonna want to hear about this" The lovers reluctantly let go of eachother and turned to look at the magic dog "Yea, we better let her know as soon as we can" Finn agreed and walked on top of Jake before he started growing in size.

Phoebe flew along the pair making sure to keep her eyes open in case the Lich decided to come back for more, Now having a moment to talk Finn called out to his brother "Jake? I have something to tell you..." Shame could be heard in the voice of the hero and Jake moved his face onto his back to look at his brother "You okay?" Finn nodded but keep his eyes downcast "I... I lost dad's sword, the Lich destroyed it... im sorry".

Tears threatened to fall until a pair of red stained furry arms hugged him tight "That doesn't matter Finn, it was just a sword. Dad would be proud that you lost it while protecting others" Finn hugger his brother tightly and sobbed silently hoping Phoebe wouldn't notice.

Phoebe watched at the pair form the corner of her eyes but keep her back turned, trying to give them some space.

...

...

...

 **The Lich watched from deep within the forest at the massive form of the magic dog and their protective elemental flying around them moving in direction of the Candy Kingdom, once he was certain that the heroes were far away he allowed his body to become corporeal again.**

 **Grunting at the state of his wounds he started making his way back to his base once more, it looked like he needed more time for his power well to affect his body in greater effect but the results of the day had not been entirely fruitless.**

 **Despite the outcome, the unexpected appearance of the embodiment of the fire element would require some adjustment in the way he would acquire the remaining gems, it would be no more that a small inconvenience to get rid of her if he adjusted the power well with the leftover ice gems from the king's crown.**

 **With plans already forming in his head, the Lich moved back to his base making sure he was not seen from deep within the forest.**

 **BREAK**

Bubblegum worked in her newest prototype following the descriptions written in the enchiridion, she had been working uninterrupted since Finn and Jake left but her progress had been painfully slow. Letting out a frustrated sigh she walked away from the prototipe gauntlet in the workbench of her laboratory.

She took a seat next to a clean table that had a few cups of tea and treats that her butler had bringed in earlier, taking a sip of tea she relaxed for a moment before she went back to work. Suddenly her lab door slammed open and one of her guards came charging in "Princess! you have an urgent visitor!" Bubblegum placed a hand in her chest to calm down her beating heart before replying.

"Who is it?!" Before her guard could answer a tired Hot Dog princess came in "Princess Bubblegum..." HDP fell on her side the moment she made it into the laboratory, Bubblegum immediately jumped out of her seat and walked over to the princess "Hot Dog princess, are you hurt? what happened?" HDP took a few deep breaths and coughed up a small red gem before replying "The Lich attacked my Kingdom... Finn, Jake and Phoebe stayed behind to stop him".

Bubblegum nodded as she picked up the familiar gem in her hand "Should I send some guards? do they need help?" HDP closed her eyes and shook her head "I-i don't know, Finn was hurt and Jake had blood on him... I really don't know" Bubblegum rubbed the sides of her head before replying "We will wait then, if they don't come back soon I will send the banana guards to look for them" HDP nodded in agreement but made no move to get back up.

Looking over at the guard still in her lab Bubblegum gave her new orders "The patrols are to be doubled, nothing gets close to the Kingdom without my permission" The banana guard saluted and ran out of the lab to give the orders to the rest.

Picking up the HDP in her arms Bubblegum carried her and placed her in the table with the threats and tea "You must be tired, would you like some tea?" HDP nodded and picked up a small sweet treat in her hand "My Kingdom is gone Bubblegum..." Bubblegum stared in surprise at the princess "Just because you crown is gone doesn't mean tha-" HDP interrupted her before she could finish "My Kingdom is destroyed and my people are dead, I don't rule over anything anymore and to be honest? im tired of this".

Bubblegum's mouth snapped shut after hearing the words of the princess in front of her, silence took over the room for a moment before she replied "What are you going to do now then?" HDP closer her eyes and sighed "I was hoping... you would allow me to become a citizen in you Kingdom princess Bubblegum" Bubblegum nodded in response "Of course you can, if there is anything else I can do just let me know" Satisfied with the outcome HDP got comfortable once more and ate as many treats as she could.

Bubblegum silently watched as she thought about what would happen now that another princess resigned her place, in normal circumstances a meeting with all of the princesses in Ooo would happen in the breakfast Kingdom to discuss matters like these, but given the current threat of the Lich that option went out the window. A meeting that size would only make the job of the Lich easier and the last thing Bubblegum needed to do was give more bad news to the others.

Especially after she was informed about the demise of the Embryo princess by her scouts... Pushing the emotions at the back of her mind she got out of her seat and walked in direction of the door "I will be back pri- um, I don't think I know you name..." HDP jumped off the table and walked over to Bubblegum "My name is Alie, your majesty" Bubblegum rolled her eyes at the technicalities and smiled at the dog.

"You don't have to be all fancy with me just because im tecnicaly your princess now Alie" The ex princess nodded in return "If that's okay with you then i agree to you terms" Alie smiled back at Bubblegum and just as they were about to leave the room another guard ran through the hallways and towards them "Princess! Finn and Jake are at the gates and they are accompanied by a fire elemental!".

Both girls let out a relieved sigh now that the heroes arrived back at the Kingdom "Thank you for informing me, you can go back to your post" The guard saluted and made his way back to his station. As the guard walked away Bubblegum walked into her lab once more and walked out with a bottle in her hands, Alie watched curiously a the item in the princess hands before asking "What's the water for?" Bubblegum shrugged and walked along the hallway.

"Oh nothing, i just have a feeling we might need it"

 **BREAK**

Now inside the castle Phoebe walked next to Jake and the human he carried on his back "Thanks for the ride Jake" The magic dog waved his thanks away as he kept walking "Its fine, just hold on until we get you some of those tears" Finn mumbled something in agreement and closed his eyes.

The trio walked in direction of Bubblegum's lab and were surprised when they meet up with her in the middle of the hallway "Oh glob, guys are you okay?" Bubblegum immediately looked over the two brothers for wounds but Jake shook his head "Its... not my blood princess, Finn could use some help though" Bubblegum turned her attention to the human laying down in the back of the dog.

"Finn?" The human in question opened his eyes and smiled at the princess "Hey PB, you still have those cyclops heads right?" Bubblegum rolled her eyes and opened the bottle in her arms "I got something better" She poured the contents of the bottle all over the brothers and smiled as they regained their energy.

Finn jumped off Jake's back and cheered "Alright! thats a lot better" Bubbleggum smile faltered a bit once she looked in Phoebe's direction "Are you okay princess?" Phoebe looked back at the now recovered human before going back to the princess "I'm fine... t-thank you for helping him" Bubblegum had to make a double take to make sure she had heard the elemental girl correctly but didn't dare to ask for confirmation.

"I'm glad to see you again guys" Alie said once she finally caught up to the group, Finn and Jake seemed to share her feelings as they replied "I was worried you wouldn't make it all the way princess" "Yea, its good to see you" Alie smiled at the duo as she walked closer "Just Alie is fine, im not a princess anymore".

The trio of adventurers looked in disbelief at the dog until Bubblegum spoke "She's right, please welcome the newest citizen in the Candy Kingdom" Finn still looked a shocked at the revelation but nodded in agreement "I guess that after what happened... this is for the best" The hallway went silent for a moment as the bigger part of the group remembered what happened.

Bubblegum cleared her throat to get their attention after a while "Alie please go find peppermint butler he will help you get settled, you guys come with me" Alie nodded and waved goodbye to the heroes before walking down the hallway. The trio of adventurers followed Bubblegum to her lab once more and settled down at a table with a few treats and tea "You guys know how it goes, now, please start from the beginning".

 **BREAK**

"...there was not trace of the Lich after that, so we just left and made sure he wasn't following us" The group finished telling the events that happened and Bubblegum pondered the information for a moment "I see... well, this certainly could have gone better but this outcome is acceptable" Finn rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment "I'm sorry i lost your walkie-talkie princess" Bubblegum rolled her eyes at the worries of the hero "Its fine Finn, i can just make you another one".

Suddenly the good mood disappeared from the princess face "With that out of the way... there is something else i should tell you" The trio looked almost nervous at her tone of voice, Bubblegum let out tired sigh and decided it would be best to be direct "We lost the Embryo princess and her Kingdom too".

Silence took over the room and Bubblegum tried to not look at the heroes expressions, Finn looked as if he had just been slapped in the face, Jake closed his eyes and seemed to be trying to calm himself down no doubt thanks to the things he saw back at the rabbit hole and Phoebe closed here eyes and clenched her teeth in anger.

"Glob damm it..." Phoebe muttered under her breath, Finn looked at Bubblegum with tearful eyes "When... when did it happen?" Bubblegum sighed and leaned back in her seat "Early in the morning from the look of things, there was nothing we could do Finn..." Finn didn't seem to hear her words as the image of the Lich appeared on his mind.

 _ **You failed once more, child.**_

A warm hand on his shoulder brought him back to reality and the human lifted his head to look at the worried elemental in front of him, neither of them said anything for a moment before hugging once more. The couple took a moment to comfort themselves and calm down, Bubblegum watched at the couple for a moment, a part of her surprised at how close they seemed to be despite the relatively short time they had been together.

Seeing how the sunlight slowly disappeared over the horizon Bubblegum decided it was enough for the day "Go home guys, we can talk again tomorrow" The trio wordlessly left the room and Bubblegum hoped they would be okay by tomorrow morning.

Now alone she left the laboratory and made sure to lock the door before retiring to her bedroom for the day, hoping that the Lich would be stopped soon.

 **BREAK**

The travel back home was unusually silent, Phoebe stayed close to Finn while Jake focused in the path ahead. Things didn't change once they reached the tree house, as they all went to their bedrooms once they were inside "Im sorry Phoebe, but i need some time to get my head right" Phoebe simply nodded and sighed as the human went back up to his own room.

Even BMO and Neptr seemed to feel the tense atmosphere and made sure to keep quiet and away from the adventurers path, Phoebe entered her room and dropped face down into her bed. This day had been hard for her friends, but she would be lying if she said that it didn't affect her either, she wasn't sure if she looked forward to killing or watching someone die in front of her.

Sure she had fought plenty of monsters but doing the same against a living, breathing person was a completely different matter and on top of that she had never seen Finn or Jake so down since she arrived here, part of her felt bad for not caring as much for the princess demise as much that it angered her that the Lich managed to get another gem from under their noses.

Letting out a tired sigh she closed her eyes she got comfortable, something told her that the next day would not be anymore easy than this one.

AN:Feels good to be back, chapter 10 is longer than usual but i like how this one turned out.

Fixes are done now, changed a few things here and there but the story remains the same. Feel free to let me know if you see something i might have missed and with that out of the way, please enjoy!


	11. A brief rest

Another day arrived to Ooo, the sun shone brightly and the wind flowed gently across the grasslands. Despite the sunny day outside, the mood inside the treehouse was the complete opposite.

Phoebe looked at the two downcast adventurers around her, Finn looked even worse than yesterday and even Jake was more reserved than normal. Letting out a sigh she picked up the mugs with cold coffee and placed them in the sink nearby before going back to her seat, wondering what should she do next.

As much as she wished that they could just take a few days off to get their thoughts in order there was no way the Lich would wait for them before attacking once more. At the same time she would not risk the safety or her friends by forcing them to go out and patrol once more, even with all of their experience she doubted either of the brothers would last long in a fight with the Lich in the state they were in right now.

Phoebe looked over to the phone in the table, silently grateful that Bubblegum had not called them. They were most likely late by now but they had to prepare first, taking a deep breath she picked up the phone and searched for the princess's number.

 **BREAK**

Bubblegum smiled at the way the pink gauntlet was turning out, while it was still far from being finished the hours she had spent working in her lab where finally paying off "Are you sure that can hurt the Lich? it looks kinda... small" Alie commented while standing on two legs to take a better look. Bubblegum placed the prototype down before replying "I had to make it smaller, we need it ready as soon as posible. But don't let its size fool you, the amount of power it holds its more than enough to finally destroy the Lich once and for all!... once its ready of course".

Alie simply shrugged and walked over to a smaller table in the lab "Lets be sure to finish it soon then, we cant let the Lich roam around freely anymore" Nodding in agreement Bubblegum prepared to get back to work once more until the phone started to ring.

"I'll get it" Alie walked over to the phone and pushed herself up to two legs once more "Hello?" From the other side of the line Phoebe's confused voice replied "Alie? is that you?" Alie smiled at the familiar voice "Yep, I work with Bubblegum now. Did you want to talk to her?" Phoebe let out a sigh before replying "Yes please, its important".

Moving the phone away from her face Alie called out to the princess in the room "Phoebe wants to talk to you princess, probably about Finn and Jake" Bubblegum placed the gauntlet on the workbench once more and walked over to Alie and took the phone from her hand "Hello Phoebe... is everything okay?" A displeased grunt coming from the other line let her know that the elemental was not in the mood to talk to her but didn't comment on the matter "Its Finn and Jake, they are... not doing good".

Bubblegum sighed before replying "I was afraid this might happen, how bad is it?" Phoebe went silent for a moment as she looked at the two heroes, Finn had dark bags under his eyes no doubt thanks to a sleepless night. Jake on the other hand looked frustrated and deep in thought, as if he couldn't find the solution to whatever problem he was thinking about.

"Glob, I don't know, they look really bad princess... we can't go against the Lich like this" Bubblegum closed her eyes and steeled herself before replying "You have to Phoebe, it's your duty as heroes" Phoebe didn't miss the commanding tone in he voice "Did you not hear me? they can't fight like this, much less against someone like the Lich!".

Bubblegum pushed her worry for the brothers at the back of her mind "I can lend them a Gumball Guardian if it will make things easier but they can't just take the day off, the Lich is still out there!" Phoebe could feel her temper acting up at the hard headed princess "Listen, you, i'm not about to send my friends into a suicide mission just because you think they can take it, they are people too you know!".

Bubblegum clenched her fist trying to keep her anger in check "What then? should we just let the Lich take what he wants?" Phoebe tried to think of a way they could make sure to keep the princesses safe without having to patrol themselves, her eyes widened as someone that had experience and training popped into her mind "What if... I get Billy to help?".

The previous anger that Bubblegum felt turned to confusion at the mention of the old hero "Billy? he retired years ago, what makes you think he will pick up the sword once more?" Phoebe rubbed her forehead as she struggled to form a plan in her mind "I'll find a way... just focus on keeping those princesses safe until i'm done" Before Bubblegum could reply the call suddenly stopped as Phoebe hanged up.

Hanging the phone on the wall once more Bubblegum let out a frustrated sigh, Alie watched from the side with a nervous smile on her face "So... I guess it didn't go well uh?" Bubblegum simply shook her head "No Alie... damn it, we're going to take some risks too it seems".

Before Alie could reply Bubblegum left the lab in direction of her bedroom, Alie cached up to her in the hallway with a confused expression in her face "Risks? we're not going to fight are we?" Bubblegum giggled at the worried tone of voice of the small hot dog at her side "Of course not, we will simply have to adapt at the situation we are in".

Once inside the room Bubblegum walked out into the balcony and shouted at the top of her voice "Gumball Guardians, come to me!" Almost immediately the ground shook as the two giant guards walked towards the balcony "YES PRINCESS, WHAT IS YOUR COMMAND?" Bubblegum hesitated for a seconds as she thought about her decision, Alie watched in awe at the giant candy guardians wondering just how had Bubblegum created such a thing.

"You, go to the Emerald Princess Kingdom and make sure she and the gem of her crown dont fall at the hands of the Lich" Pointing at the remaining guard Bubblegum continued "And you, got to the Engagement ring Princess Kingdom and make sure nothing happens to her or the gem" Without another word the Gumball Guardians left the Kingdom and moved in direction of their assigned princesses.

Alie couldn't help but to feel a little scared at the sight of the best means of protection the Kingdom had walking away "Are you sure this is fine princess? I mean, I don't want to sound selfish but..." Bubblegum patted the little hot dog on the head and nodded "I know what you mean and to be honest i'm not entirely sure myself, I only hope Finn and Jake can get back on their feet soon".

Alie shivered at the thought of the trio of heroes not coming to stop the Lich at all, the two girls left the room in silence and walked towards the lab once more "Do you have a plan princess? just in case the Lich come here" Bubblegum smiled brightly trying to ease Alie's worries "As a matter of fact, i do. But i'll have to call them first" And hope the Lich doesn't show up until the sun comes down Bubblegum thought as the door to the lab came closer.

 **BREAK**

Phoebe finished adjusting the green backpack on her back and closed the door behind them, she turned around to to look at the duo and to her relief Jake seemed a little more like himself now but sadly Finn didn't seem to notice anything that had happened "Phoebe? where are we going?" Jake questioned once he realised they were outside "We are going to ask Billy for help and get Finn a new sword".

Jake flinched at the mention of his idoliced hero "B-billy?Ii mean... we can go get Finn a new sword first right...?" Phoebe crossed her arms and shook her head, frowning at the magic dog "We are going to see Billy first, he has to help us keep the Lich at bay until you guys are back to normal" Confusion covered Jake's face for a moment before he replied "Back to normal? what are you talking about? im the same as ever!".

Phoebe frowned as Jake started playing around with his powers "Jake... I know you are scared but-" Before she could finish Jake stopped making shapes with his hands and looked directly at her "Scared? why would I be scared? we fought the Lich once no problem, everything will be fine in the end, just like before!" Phoebe sighed, it was obvious from the way he had acted in the morning that something was bothering him but they couldn't afford to waste time right now.

"Jake, please just... remember that i'm here if you need to talk, okay?" Jake suddenly looked very tired and simply turned around and slowly grew in size, Phoebe rubbed her forehead a little frustrated that the magic dog didn't trust in her enough to tell her how he really felt. She pushed those thoughts at the back of her mind and walked over to the downcast human "Finn? how are you feeling?" Finn looked at her with tired eyes but quickly looked away.

"I'm sorry for causing so much trouble... it's just, hard. If i had been better then- " His rant was cut short as Phoebe wrapped her arms around his neck "Talking like that isn't going to help Finn, instead of focusing on your mistakes you should be proud of what you have accomplished so far" Despite her words of encouragement Finn simply nodded and hugged her tighter.

Seeing as he had no intention of letting go of her she flew into the air and landed on the back of the magic dog, once the pair where ready Jake started making his way towards the legendary hero's crack.

Once again the silent ride felt unnatural to Phoebe, she hoped that with Billy's help the brothers would go back to their old selves. Deep down inside of her molten core fear of what the Lich would do now that there was no one keeping him at bay slowly raised up but she simply closed her eyes and hugged tighter at the human boy in her arms.

If it came down to making a choice, she already knew who she would pick.

 **BREAK**

Billy grunted in pain as he got back up to his feet, he had been training recently now that the hole in his chest had been fixed, sadly, time had not been kind to him. His knees hurt after a few minutes of training and his hands felt clumsy as he adjusted his hold on his sword.

"You can do it Billy!" The old lady cheered from the side, chuckling to himself Billy started slashing and dodgin the attacks of an imaginary enemy as the many moves he learned on his youth slowly came back to him. Part of him couldn't help but to wonder how would have things turned out had he never given up in his beliefs, would he be the one out there making sure the princesses were okay? or could he perhaps have stopped the Lich from escaping the amber prison in the Candy Kingdom?.

The familiar pain that came with age in his hands and knees brought him back from his musings once more, hoping to a nearby chest he took a seat and let out a tired sigh.

"Guess this won't be as easy as i thought" Billy said mostly to himself, the old lady that keep him company walked over with an oversized plate and sandwich towards the tired hero "Starting over is always harder than starting up but if you keep at it i'm sure you'll go back to being the number one hero!" Billy chuckled at his companion's enthusiasm before picking both the plate and her with ease.

Making sure she was seated safely on his shoulder he took a bite of his sandwich before replying "Im not so sure about that, Finn and Jake might be inexperienced but they have much potential and now with the extra help of the Fire elemental they should be okay on their own" Billy shook his head sadly before continuing "It silly of me, thinking i could go out there and still be hero".

The old lady said nothing and simply wrapped her arms around the hero's neck, Billy moved one his hands back and gently patted her back with a finger making sure to not hurt her.

He continued his lunch in silence until his eyes caught sight of a list he had forgotten about, after placing the empty plate on the floor he picked up the parchment and opened it. A list with many activities and goals he had written some years ago covered most of the paper, most of them also had been crossed out once they had been completed.

His eyes moved over the list until the last few remaining caught his attention.

 _-Take Canyon out for one last ride_

- _Tell Finn that thing_

He sighed at the reminder, wondering if he could ever get around to do them. It had been years since he last saw Canyon and even though his spirit was back, a small childish fear at the back of his mind took over him everytime he thought about checking up on her, if only to make sure she was okay.

On the other hand, his fears for the young hero's safety kept him from telling the truth about his dad. With such a heroic spirit Billy wondered how could his father commit crimes that would get him imprisoned for life and don't even feel guilty about it.

Rolling up the list once more Billy threw it to the side not caring where it went, he could worry about it some other time.

Sadly, fate had different plans for him as the wall suddenly cracked and started to split open, instinctively Billy got back up to his feet and moved out of view "Nothung" Billy's barely audible whisper worked as expected once his trusty sword came floating towards his open hand, now armed and ready Billy prepared for a fight, sparing one last pet at the old lady on his shoulders that tried to hide behind his head.

Orange light slowly moved closer and Billy could only stare in confusion until a voice called out "Um, Billy? sorry to bother you..." His stance relaxed once he recognized the voice of the newest addition to the brothers team. Walking over to the hole in the wall he saw the fire elemental followed by two dowcast heroes.

"Oh i'm glad you are here, we... need your help Billy" Phoebe confessed as she pushed Finn and Jake forward, Billy pursed his lips as he looked closely at the brothers. Both of them looked like they were seconds away from passing out, from a sleepless night most likely.

Nodding at the trio Billy turned around and walked over to the chest he used as a seat "Please follow me" Phoebe let out a relieved sigh before guiding Finn and Jake towards Billy. Once they were ready Billy motioned at Phoebe to continue "Something must have happened with the Lich but what exactly happened miss...?" Phoebe quickly replied not wanting to waste the legendary hero's time.

"Phoebe, and about the Lich, we... we failed to keep one of the gems safe" Billy opened his mouth to reply but Phoebe continued "And we also lost two princesses, princess hot dog lost her Kingdom and her people so she gave up the crown and... there were no survivors in the Embryo princess Kingdom".

Silence took over the room for a moment as Billy processed the information, after a while he finally nodded at the elemental in the room "I see, i mean no offence but, could you please give me a few minutes alone with them?" Phoebe reluctantly nodded and started making her way towards the hole in the wall "I'll just... guard outside then".

The room grew darker as Phoebe took the light away with her, Billy let out a tired sigh as he turned to look at the human "How do you feel, Finn?" Finn slowly lifted his head to look at Billy, making the dark bags under his red puffy eyes visible to everyone "I failed her, Embryo princess was counting on me and now she's dead" Tears slowly rolled down his checks once more "I just wasn't good enough Billy... im sorry, im-" Before Finn could continue Billy placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Answer me this, do you really believe that you failed? or did the Lich make you think that?" Finn's face twisted in confusion "What? how would the Lich..."

 ** _You failed once more, child._**

Finn's mouth snapped shut as the Lich's words resonated in his head, Billy nodded at the familiar look on his face "He did, didn't he? I had a feeling it might be that" Finn looked with confusion at Billy "He's making me think that? but... I had the protection gem..." Billy shook his head before replying "The protection gems are far from being as good as the gems the princesses have Finn, he cannot directly control your mind but small whispers or thoughts that don't belong to you can slip by unnoticed".

"How can i get rid of them then?" Finn pleaded for an answer and almost started to cry once more as Billy shook his head "There are no cures for that Finn, as long as you believe he is right you will keep hearing them. Only once you break free of the guilt and insecurity the voice will stop" Finn's hat slipped off his head as he ran his hands over his hair and his mind raced, was he being controlled unconsciously? could the Lich hear his thoughts? .

Billy looked over at the magic dog while Finn processed the information, while Jake was in better shape compared to his brother it was obvious that something was bothering him too. Jake felt a little nervous now that the attention was placed on him "It looks like there is something bothering you too Jake" Billy prodded and Jake let out a nervous laugh "H-a ha ha, no way. Everything is fine with me, no problems here!" Billy simply raised an eyebrow looking unimpressed at the blatant lie the dog told him.

Jake felt bad for lying at his idol but as much as he tried he couldn't open up an voice his fears, Billy smiled at him nodding in understanding "Its okay to feel scared, there is nothing wrong in admitting it" Jake's eyes widened in surprise "H-how can you tell? are psiquic too Billy?" The legendary hero chuckled slightly before replying "I fought against the Lich time and time again back in the day Jake, im familiar with most of his tricks now".

Despite the friendliness in his voice it was clear that Billy was waiting for an answer, Jake groaned and reluctantly started "I mean... it's not that im scared about him, it's just, i'm afraid of what will happen to my friends" Billy nodded and motioned at him to continue, swallowing his pride jake continued with the confession "He's strong, stronger than before I mean. And I don't want Finn getting hurt so of course I try to protect him but... m-my girlfriend lady rainicorn is no fighter and neither is my brother Jermaine, I just can't help but to worry about them. If the Lich got to them and did the same thing he did with Hot Dog princess royal guards then... I could not take something like that, not with them".

Billy looked very serious at the magic dog's words before replying "But you are protecting them Jake, by fighting and stopping the Lich you are making sure he has no chance to get close to your loved ones, do you think you would feel better by watching over them?" Jake pondered the question for a moment "No... because then Bubblegum would be all on her own, everyone else would be vulnerable".

Jake suddenly looked shocked at the revelation and Billy simply chuckled "You see now? the only way to keep everyone safe if by taking care of the problem" Jake then rubbed his head with a worried expression on his face "Oh no, did i got mind controlled too?" This time Billy laughed out loud at the magic dog's worries "Of course not, you just worry too much Jake".

The loud laugh of the legendary hero interrupted Finn's thoughts and Billy watched happily as his spirits seemed to be nearly back to normal "Oh glob!" Finn nearly screamed as he remembered "The Lich is still out there! we can't just stay here!" Turning around Finn tried to sprint back outside, only to trip and fall as his legs gave out under him at the sudden effort "You are not going anywhere like that Finn, you can barely walk as is its" Billy picked up the human from the floor and placed him on his feet once more.

"Y-you are right Billy... maybe if i use some magic tears or- " Finn was interrupted as Billy suddenly stood up and grabbed his trusty sword "No Finn, you don't have to worry about today. Take this day to prepare yourself once more, i will make sure the Lich does not get anymore gems" Both brothers looked amazed at their idol's determination but the mood disappeared instantly once another voice appeared.

"Didn't think i'd see the day, old man" Billy's eyes immediately moved towards the hole in the wall, standing there with her arms crossed was Canyon with a nervous looking elemental next to her "She said she was a friend of yours..." Phoebe said but neither of the giants in the room seemed to have heard her.

Billy's cheeks burned red at the sight of his ex-girlfriend "C-canyon? why, I mean, i'm not saying im not happy to see you but-" Canyon lifted her hand stopping the hero from further embarrassing himself "Don't go getting your hopes up, i'm here because the Lich is out there and rumors are starting to run wild across the Kingdoms".

Finn perked up the mention of the other Kingdoms "What kind of rumors?" Canyon turned to look a the human in the room "The kind that say that the Lich destroyed two Kingdoms and killed their princesses, that's what Lumpy space princess says anyway" The three adventurers cringed at the misfortune of having LSP been the one to find out about their failures.

Having had a moment to calm down after the sudden entrance of his ex-girlfriend Billy walked further into the cave, everyone else watched curiously at the hero until he placed his hands over a dirty cloth that covered something nearly as big as the hero himself "Its true that i have failed before, my determination faltered and I gave up" In one swift movement a red motorcycle was revealed to be under the dirty cloth "But now that the Lich is out there again I can't afford to sit back and watch, but even so... i'm afraid I can't do this on my own".

Canyon watched wide eyed at the renewed spirit in Billy "I... wait, what is that on your shoulders?" Billy looked at her with a confused expression on his face until he suddenly remembered, the old lady walked out from behind his head and sat on his shoulder "Hello everyone!" Canyon and Phoebe looked completely lost at the sudden appearance but Finn slowly recognized the lady.

"Is that... the old lady we brought back that one time?" Billy cleared his throat as his cheeks turned red "O-oh, yes, she has been keeping me company for a while now... it was lonely in here on my own" The two giants in the room looked at each other for a moment before turning their heads.

Phoebe walked over to the two brothers with a hopeful expression on her face "Hey guys... are you feeling better?" Jake smiled at her and nodded "Don't worry Feebs, I know what we have to do now" A small smile appeared on her face but it quickly fell as she turned to look at Finn, while he didn't look as sad as before now he seemed to be more worried about something.

"Finn?" The human in question turned to look at the elemental and gave her a shaky smile "H-hey Phoebe, im okay too" Phoebe froned and crossed her arms but before she could reply Billy called out to them "I trust that you will take care of them while they rest, right Phoebe?" The elemental turned to look at the giant already mounted in his motorcycle with his sword strapped to his back.

"Of course I will, thank you again for doing this Billy" Billy simply waved away her thanks as he reved up the engine "No need to thank me, im just doing what I should have done years ago" The sound of the motorcycle echoed in the cave as Billy accelerated towards the entrance, stopping right next to Canyon "Have you decided yet?" Billy asked with a straight face, ready for rejection.

Canyon still looked in disbelief at her ex, part of her was surprised that even with his age he would still consider fighting but what really shocked her was the look in his eyes. The same determined look that he had when they had first meet was there once more, the same spirit that made him jump head first into a fight to save someone in need was back. She knew that even if she rejected him now he would still go out there, even if it lead to his death at the hands of the Lich.

With her decision made, she tried to hide her smile as she got on the motorcycle and hugged him from behind "I'll go, I have to make sure the Lich doesn't wipe the floor with you, old man" The two heroes share a laugh for a moment before leaving the cave at full speed in direction of the targeted kingdoms.

Finn and Jake look in awe at the spot where their idol had been just a second ago, Phoebe simply looked at the giant figures disappearing over the horizon before turning towards the brothers "Alright then, let's go home you guys" Jake nodded in agreement "Good idea... i'm about to pass out over here. How are you holding up bro?" Finn's eyes slowly closed and his already slow walk stopped completely "I'm... pretty tired man...".

Just as Phoebe was about to grab his arm to help him, Finn fell face first on the floor "Finn!" Phoebe quickly picked him off the floor only to find he was out cold "I'll have to carry hi-" Another falling sound echoed in the cave and Phoebe didn't need to turn around to see what had caused it.

"Looks like your friends had a hard night" Phoebe turned to look at the old lady Billy lived with turning Jake's body around so that his face wasn't squished against the ground "They sure did, thank you for the help but we have to leave now" Phoebe said as she moved over to Jake and tried to pick him up too "Ugh-heavier than he looks".

Once she made sure neither of them would fall Phoebe made her way towards the exit and slowly flew towards the tree house.

 **BREAK**

 **The Lich glanced at the entrance of the cavern and quickly finished his work with the well of power, the usual green light that came from it now was a cold blue. With his preparations ready The Lich placed one of his skeletal hands inside and pulled it back with as much of the liquid as he could get before drinking it.**

 **He felt the change right away, a cold breeze inside of his decaying body mixed with the warm and sickening fire. He turned around and prepared to test his newest powers on his unwilling followers, a few animals lined up in front of him but neither of them made any move to run or hide, their minds were long gone and replaced with the will of their master.**

 **The Lich said nothing but all of the animals understood clearly his command, they ran as fast as they could towards the exit. The Lich placed his hand on the floor and smiled, ice dark as coal moved in all directions of the cavern way faster that any of the animals could. The ice didn't stop at their legs however, it swallowed their entire bodies in seconds both inside and outside.**

 **Turning around The Lich saw the black ice statues that retained just enough form to still recognise what creature had perished inside, satisfied with the results he drinked as much as the well's contents as he could before leaving, he had wasted enough time already.**

 **AN**

Hello everyone, sorry about the delay... but i'm back now. I managed to find to time to write after many long months of playing video games and doing nothing, so this story can officially begin again!

And that's pretty much it, many thanks to all that read and liked the story!

Deathclaw2010: I'm sorry you feel that way, if other readers feel the same way I'll make sure to fix it! Also, I guess I should have said this story will have a more... human? approach to fight wounds and things like that, so that's the reason Alie's royal guard had such a gruesome end.

Ooobserver: I'm very glad you like it! And same, I made sure to search far and wide through all the Finn/FP stories to make sure no one had made a story like this one before I started. So stay tuned for future chapters, things will change more as time goes on.

et-reader97, The Book of Eli: Glad you like the story! thank you for the review.


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